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THE ORATORY AND POETRY OF THE BIBLE 
FERDINAND S. SCHENCK, D.D., LL.D. 



The Oratory and Poetry 
of the Bible 



/ 



BY 

FERDINAND S. SCHENCK, D.D., LL.D. 

Profefsor of Preaching in the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick, N. J. 




HODDER & STOUGHTON 

NEW YORK 

GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 






Copyrijht, 191J 
GEORGE H. OORAN COMPANT 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 025238 



^/^x^r- 



APR 19 1915 

©CI,A397638 



PREFACE 

For the past fifteen years I have tried to incite my 
students in New York University, in Rutgers College, 
and now in the Seminary, to read the Bible, not as a 
task, but as a pleasure, and have had fair success. The 
books of the Prophets look very dull simply as books 
but when we look at them as largely sketches of ora- 
tions and exercise our historical imagination to hear 
the orators speak, they become intensely interesting. I 
have tried in the classroom to so describe the times, the 
questions of the day, and the men that we could 
imagine ourselves in the crowd facing Isaiah, for in- 
stance, as he held the multitude spell-bound by his 
eloquence. 

In this book I make the same attempt, but now I am 
forced to adopt the device of "Short Stories of Great 
Orations,'' as told in letters supposed to have been 
written by those who heard them. Such letters de- 
scribing orations by Webster, Beecher, or Gladstone 
are of much general interest and help us to hear them, 
so I would help all hear Moses, Amos and Paul. 

As the best poetry is largely impersonal I have not 
tried to make the college students acquainted with the 
Poets nor have I tried to give technical lectures upon 
poetry; I have simply tried to show the strength and 
beauty of some of the great poems of the Bible in such 
a way that they would desire to read them and appre- 
ciate them. 

V 



vi PREFACE 

I send this book fcr:h :hat it may do for all who 

read it what I ha,ve tried to do for the college students, 
quicken their interest in reading the Bible: my book 

is nc: an end in itself, onlv a means tc an end. 



TABLE OP CONTENTS 

Part I. Introductory 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Nature of Oratory ii 

Part II. Short Stories of Great Orations 

II. The Kind and Amount of Oratory in the Bible 21 

III. The Four Orations and the Farewell of Moses 27 

A Letter from a Son of Naphtali to His Brother in 

Thebes. 

IV. Two Orations in the City of Samaria, by Amos and 

Hosea, during the Reign of Jeroboam II 43 

A Letter from a Prince of Israel to a Merchant Prince 
of Tyre. 
V. Four Orations in Jerusalem, by Joel, Micah and Isaiah, 

in the Time of its Great Prosperity 62 

A Letter from a Prince of Judah to the Archon of Athens. 

Supplement to Chap. V — Arrangement of the Speeches 

in the Book of Isaiah 82 

VI. Three Orations in Jerusalem, by Zephaniah, Habakkuk 
and Jeremiah, on the Eve of its Destruction by 
Nebuchadnezzar 85 

Letters of the Princess Zebidah in Jerusalem and her 
Husband, Prince Azariah, a Captive in Babylon . 

Supplement to Chap. VI — Arrangement of the Speeches 

in the Book of Jeremiah 106 

VII. Two Orations by Ezekiel to the Captives in Babylon . . 109 

Letters of Prince Azariah, a Captive in Babylon, and 
his Wife, Princess Zebidah, in Jerusalem, and at last 
in Egypt. 

Supplement to Chap. VII — Arrangement of the Speeches 

in the Book of Ezekiel 129 

VIII. Two Orations by Haggai and Zechariah, during the Re- 
building of Jerusalem 131 

A Letter from a Prince of Benjamin to his Sister Re- 
maining in Babylon. 

vii 



viii TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

IX. Two Orations by Jesus of Nazareth 144 

A Letter from One Traveling in the Eastern Provinces 
to his Father, a Patrician at Rome. 

X. An Oration by the Apostle Peter 167 

A Letter from Shemuel the Pharisee to his Brother in 
Alexandria. 

XL An Oration by the Apostle Paul 181 

A Letter from Dionysius the Areopagite to Aristobulus, 
a Nobleman in Rome. 

Part III. The Poetry of the Bible 

XIL The Birth and Growth of Poetry 197 

XIIL Epic Poetry 210 

Epic Song of the Red Sea. 

Epic Song of Deborah. 

The Song of Songs. 

The Lamentations. 

The Rhapsody of Zion Redeemed. 
XIV. Dramatic Poetry 221 

The Book of Job. 
XV. Didactic Poetry 230 

The Proverbs. 
XVI. Lyric Poetry 236 

The Psalms. 



PART I 
INTRODUCTORY 



CHAPTER I 
THE NATURE OF ORATORY 

The power of oratory is vast and mysterious. A 
great crowd is gathered to hear an orator. It is a 
popular assembly. Some have come out of interest 
in the cause to be presented, they are opposed to it or 
in favor of it; some have come out of interest in the 
orator, they admire him or are curious to hear him or 
perhaps they dislike him; some have come simply 
because there is a crowd and they like crowds. There 
are various grades and conditions in the crowd: the 
cultured and the uncultured, the learned and the igno- 
rant, the successful and the failures, the well-clothed 
and the poorly-clothed, deeper grades still : the bright 
and strong in mind, the dull and stupid, the heavy in 
heart, the buoyant as well, those of a deep and rich 
emotional nature, and those poor and shallow in their 
feelings, those strong and stable in will and those weak 
and vacillating. 

They grow restless as they wait for the orator. He 
is a lawyer perhaps, and has argued many cases before 
the jury and the court; or perhaps he is a member of 
Congress and has advocated causes in the Senate; or 
perhaps he is a preacher and has plead the cause of 
his righteous Lord in many church services. He has 
won his reputation as an orator in one of these ways, 
but he has a different task before him now. There is 

II 



12 ORATORY AND POETRY 

no sanction of Court or Senate or Church to hold these 
people, the assembly is in a public hall or in the open 
air; they are not special classes familiar with and 
trained in certain lines of thought whose present duty 
is to hear a well-known advocate ; this is simply a vast 
popular assembly. The oratory he has exercised in 
other fields must take a loftier range now if he suc- 
ceeds in holding and swaying this crowd of people. 
At last he steps upon the platform; he stands within 
the easy view, he speaks within the easy hearing of 
the multitude. 

Now as we are trying to estimate the power of ora- 
tory we will imagine ourselves as seated upon the 
platform by the side of the orator and looking out 
upon the faces of the multitude. There was loud 
applause when he stepped out upon the platform but 
it was evidently led by his admirers and the friends of 
his cause, there were many who did not applaud, they 
were listless or they were opposed. Soon the restless- 
ness of the mass subsides; favoring faces become 
eager; dull, listless faces begin to light up; frowning 
looks brighten into smiles. Now there is a burst of 
applause, this time it is not manufactured, it is spon- 
taneous; it is not partial, it is general. Soon the in- 
terest becomes too deep and strong for frequent 
applause ; the faces are intense, the forms straighten 
and bend forward, the silence grows oppressive. Still 
the orator speaks on, he holds the multitude as by a 
spell; they think his thoughts, they feel his feelings, 
they choose his choices. What is he doing? He is 
pouring his power into the multitude. This is the 
power of oratory. One man becomes a thousand men. 



ORATORY 13 

His thoughts, his feelings, his will take possession and 
rule the thoughts, feelings, will of a multitude. He 
changes them, he moulds them into new men in certain 
directions, he even gives the sluggish a new life, at 
least for a time. 

This surely is a vast power. How does the orator 
work such changes? This is a great mystery. Per- 
haps we can learn something of this mystery if we now 
imagine ourselves as seated in front of the orator, a 
dozen seats away ; we are now part of the crowd. How 
does he sway us, mould us ? He speaks in such a way 
that we can understand easily all he says ; his speech is 
clear and pleasing; his words are well chosen, familiar, 
and skillfully grouped; there is movement in his sen- 
tences, a kind of musical wave that bears us along and 
charms us. The tones of his voice are marvelous, 
every change of thought, every breath of feeling, every 
choice of the will expresses itself clearly and naturally. 
How the man acquired this art of speech there is no 
time to consider, we are simply swept along by it. His 
speech has the charm of music, the spell of great har- 
monies, we listen enraptured. But it is not only the 
voice that so expresses his thought and so thrills us, 
the whole man speaks; his face, especially his eyes, 
respond quickly to every passing feeling ; he has 

"An eye that tears can on a sudden fill 
And lips that smile before the tears are gone." 

His voice and eyes and face are so many avenues 
through which his soul enters into and subdues ours. 
So it is with the postures of his body and the gestures 
he makes. All these are separate languages and he is 



14 ORATORY AND POETRY 

the full master of each; the way he stands before us 
on the open platform, the way he walks about, the way 
he holds his head and moves his hands and arms reveal 
to us and impress upon us his thought and feeling. 
The marvel of it all is, that without an apparent effort, 
without any seeming intention even, all these varied 
languages are in perfect harmony; and each seems 
needed with the others to express the full thought and 
feeling of the orator. The subject he is presenting to 
us is so great, is so fully understood by him, has such 
complete possession of him that it grasps and uses all 
these powers of oratory to express itself and enforce 
itself upon us. 

Now a strange thing happens to us. While we are 
charmed by voice and eye and gesture we become un- 
conscious of their charm; it sinks into our subcon- 
sciousness and we are alive only to what he is saying ; 
we are intensely alive to that because he is such a 
master of it; the truth he is trying to convey to us is 
so great and clear and important to him that we lose 
^ sight of him in seeing it. Here is the mysterious 
power of oratory, at least one of its main elements. 
The truth, through the personality of the orator, im- 
presses itself at the instant upon a multitude of per- 
sonalities. There seems to be no other power just 
like it. 

This orator has a great mind, he thinks clearly and 
strongly; he is well informed on his subject and widely 
informed on all related subjects ; he has all his thinking 
power and wide information at his ready command; 
he knows what to say not only but how to say it to 
interest others, to lead them to his conclusions. He is 



ORATORY 15 

thoroughly convinced of the truth and of its import- 
ance and so he convinces us ; he forces his thought and 
conviction upon us. 

This orator has a rich emotional nature, a feeling 
heart as well as a thinking mind; and the truth as he 
sees it stirs his emotions : it is these strong emotions so 
aroused that thrill in the voice and shine in the eyes 
and so stir our emotions until we, to the extent of our 
powers, feel as he feels. 

This orator has a vivid imagination; he makes us 
see that striking incident, or that beautiful scene, be- 
cause he sees it, sees it so clearly that he vividly de- 
scribes what he sees and we see it through him. 

This orator has a good conscience, he values right- 
eousness above all else; his lofty moral emotions are 
his overmastering emotions, they sway him ; and so he 
persuades us that righteousness is on his side, that the 
cause that controls him ought to control us. 

This orator has a strong will. His will is entirely 
enlisted in this cause. His thoroughly aroused will 
appeals to our wills, arouses them and enlists them in 
his cause. Herein is a large element in the mysterious 
power of oratory. The truth has such complete posses- 
sion of a richly gifted person that he, through the 
various languages of communication at his command, 
impresses a multitude of persons in his presence so 
they think and feel and resolve as he does. 

There is one other element that adds to, perhaps, 
rather than throws light upon, the mystery. It may 
be called the contagion of a crowd. As we sit before 
the orator listening to him intently, it is not as if we 
were there alone or only a very few; we are sur- 



i6 ORATORY AND POETRY 

rounded by intent minds, beating hearts, aroused wills. 
Some one starts applause, we are swept along to swell 
it ; some one sighs, our pent-up emotions almost burst 
their bounds. These are the movements we can esti- 
mate; there are others, strong, pulsating, but beyond 
estimate. The orator is impressing himself upon 
multitudes who are in touch with each other, who are 
influencing each other in thought, in feeling, in pur- 
pose. 

Something may occur which will sweep the multi- 
tude beyond the control of the orator, such things have 
been known; but generally this contagion of the crowd 
has taken the direction incited by the oratory though 
going beyond the desired limit. This extreme only 
shows what a great force the personal influence of the 
crowd has upon itself and upon each member of it as 
awakened by the mysterious power of oratory. 

Then there is the contagious influence of the crowd 
upon the orator himself, even of certain classes in the 
crowd. He wins the attention of those opposed, and 
he goes on with an increased effort for greater victory ; 
he arouses those listless ones, and he becomes clearer 
and stronger; those dull faces are touched, and his 
emotions gather strength from them; a gleam of 
awakening resolution shows itself in eager eyes, and 
he doubles his appeals ; the growing enthusiasm of his 
followers lifts him to loftier flights of eloquence. 
Streams of personal influence flow from his soul into 
many souls, their responding ^feehngs incite him to 
more vivid thought, they draw the reserve forces of 
his mind and heart into splendid action, they stimulate 
his reason, memory, imagination, feeling, will, and 



ORATORY 17 

the stream of his personal power becomes a vast flood 
and sweeps the multitude along in its mighty volume. 

We may not fully understand the mystery ; we may 
not fully estimate the vast power of oratory; but we 
feel it. Tomorrow morning we read the verbatim 
report of the great oration in the newspaper ; it is clear, 
it is strong, but it is cold; the life has gone; the heart 
of fire has ceased to beat. It is all true, but it is truth 
alone; the personality of the orator has faded away; 
his vast, mysterious power has vanished. By the im- 
agination we may recreate the scene, may again become 
one of the crowd, may again see and hear the orator, 
may again to some extent feel the power of oratory. 



PART II 

SHORT STORIES OF GREAT 
ORATIONS 



CHAPTER II 

THE KIND AND AMOUNT OF ORATORY IN 
THE BIBLE 

A LARGE part of the Bible is the report of orations. -7 
The narrative makes us acquainted with the speaker, 
describes sometimes quite fully the occasion, gives a 
concise report of the oration and estimates its effect 
upon the people and succeeding history. Many of 
these orations were spoken in the ancient Hebrew 
tongue. The language itself was finely adapted for 
oratory; it was not philosophical but popular; not 
scientific, but poetic. It had great simplicity, clear 
visions, direct points of view, large conceptions, a 
scorn of petty details. It had great strength; it was 
even so sensuous and passionate that it frequently ex- 
pressed its feelings in terms of their physical mani- 
festations. The simple directness of our English 
Bible is due largely to the translation of this strong 
Hebrew language into our English tongue at the time 
of its greatest strength, in its golden age, that of 
Bacon, Shakespeare and Milton. The dignity of the 
Latin and the grace of the Norman-French were har- 
moniously mingled in not too large proportion with 
the body of strong Anglo-Saxon, so forming our clear 
and vigorous English. The Bible is stronger even 
than Shakespeare in words of Anglo-Saxon origin. 

21 



:i2 ORATORY AND POETRY 

Hebrew oratory has thus been very finely rendered 
for us into our own language. 

The breaking up of our Bible into chapters and 
verses, while extremely useful for reference, has how- 
ever been a very serious hindrance to the flow of 
vigorous oratory, it has spoiled many a fine passage, it 
has kept many readers from even recognizing they 
were reading an oration. It is quite possible, for in- 
stance, to read the book of Deuteronomy by chapters 
and verses and not at all recognize it as a book of great 
orations. Whatever view may be taken of the origin 
of the book, the form of it is that of oratory. One of 
the greatest men in the world's history, at the close of 
\ his life, makes a series of orations with the lofty 
' purpose of persuading a nation to elect God as their 
King. Very few orators are great enough to be com- 
/ pared to Moses ; very few orations compare with these 
in lofty eloquence ; each oration leads to the next, the 
/ pause of silence and reflection between adds to the 
impression, and there is the steady progression to the 
climax of the final oration; Moses marshals facts, 
\ arguments and appeals with marvelous power. 
^ In the first oration, chapters i : 6-4 : 40, Moses an- 
nounces his deposition : that he can no longer be their 
leader. 

In the second oration, chapters 8:51-11: 32, he de- 
livers to the people the code of laws for their guidance. 

In the third oration, chapter 28 : 1-68, he exhorts the 
people to obey the laws.. 

In the fourth oration, chapters 29:2-31:8, he 
makes his final appeal to the nation to form a solemn 
covenant to have God and obey Him as their King. 



BIBLE ORATORY 23 

The succeeding history flows from this important 
occasion and shows the large effect in the nation's Hfe 
of the action urged by this series of orations. 

In the later books of the Bible-narrative we fre- 
quently meet with men called prophets, they were 
men of brave and faithful speech urging the people 
and their rulers to acknowledge God as their King. 
When kings arose in the national life these brave men 
told the most arbitrary kings that they were only 
sub-kings after all, that God was the real King of the 
nation. 

In the later days of the nation's life some of these 
prophets gathered up and arranged the sketches of the 
orations they had made to the people and their rulers, 
and thus the resulting books of the prophets we have 
in our Bible are really books of oratory. Many look 
upon these books as characterized mainly by prediction 
and think of a prophet as mainly one who foretold the 
future. There is a remarkable element of prediction 
in some of these books, but it is very small in compari- 
son with the oratory, and the more remarkable because 
small. 

The prophets were preachers of righteousness, not 
as we think of preachers today, confined in their minis- 
try to single congregations, these were rather national 
orators; they endeavored to arouse the nation to 
loyalty to their God, the righteous King. They were 
men of such superior ability that they won the atten- 
tion of the nation and made a large impression upon 
it; men of great eloquence who used their gifts for the 
lofty object of advancing civic and religious righteous- 
ness. 



24 ORATORY AND POETRY 

The quality of many of these orations fills us with 
admiration. The Golden Age Oration of Isaiah, chap- 
ters 2-4, contrasted the darkness then prevailing with 
the splendid future that might be brought into exist- 
ence. The Salvation Oration, Isaiah 24-27, described 
the songs of praise arising after the silence of despair. 
The Shiloh Oration of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 7-10, de- 
picted in terrible terms the results of unrighteous liv- 
ing. Many passages from these ancient books are 
among the brightest gems of the world's oratory. The 
wonderful imagination of Isaiah brings before our 
eyes his vision of the dead kingdoms arising from 
their graves to exult over Babylon as she falls into the 
grave, Isaiah 14 : 9-20. In like manner, to cheer the 
oppressed of his people, Ezekiel gives the elaborate 
description of Tyre as a stately ship brought to silence 
in the midst of the seas, Ezekiel 27. Nahum, in his 
short book, describes the awful majesty of God as he 
leads the forces of destruction against Nineveh. 

Glancing now at the New Testament we find the 
Gospels are books of oratory. The loftiest thinking, 
the finest feeling and the noblest willing the world has 
ever known, clothed in the most charming forms of 
eloquent speech, pour themselves out in the teachings 
of our Lord Jesus Christ for the noble purpose, the 
highest object an orator can have, the salvation of man 
from all that is low and groveling to the life in fellow- 
ship with the righteous God, the rightful King of the 
soul. 

The Book of the Acts is also a book of oratory; in 
its rapid narrative there are nineteen concise sketches 
of orations; orations by great men well adapted to 



BIBLE ORATORY 25 

their lofty purpose of leading all men to the noble life 
of loyalty to God their righteous King. 

There is a subtile element of the power of oratory 
that makes that of the Bible of more interest to us 
than the oratory of any other age or clime; it may be 
called the spirit of all the ages. Generally oratory 
belongs specially to its own clime and age. It is true 
that men of all ages and climes have much in common. 
It is true that the orator is the easy master of the great 
things that interest mankind. It is true that domestic 
virtues, love of native land, loyalty to national tra- 
ditions, courage, devotion are the general themes of 
oratory. But it is also true that the orator and the 
crowd he influences belong to the same special age and 
clime, that there are interests of special value to them, 
that these awaken kindred thoughts and feelings pecul- 
iar to their present time and condition ; and that these 
special interests have very little value to us today. 

It is for this reason we find that we do not feel the 
thrilling contagion which moved the crowd when 
Demosthenes was arousing them against Philip. But 
when we stand with the crowd before Isaiah or Paul 
the spirit of their age is the spirit of ours as well, these 
orators are trying to awaken loyalty to the ever present 
righteous God; the temple courts have vanished, the 
hill of Mars is far away, but loyalty to the righteous 
God is a thrilling theme of everliving interest. 

While this makes Bible oratory of special interest 
to us it can be only by recreating the occasion, by im- 
agining ourselves as in the crowd hearing Moses or 
Ezekiel, Jesus of Nazareth or Peter, that we can more 
fully estimate the value or feel the power of their 



26 ORATORY AND POETRY 

oratory. In order to help in this needed effort, I have 
imagined, in a few instances, one who was swayed by 
some great oratory describing it in a letter to a friend : 
these letters form the following chapters. 

Since poetry is near akin to oratory I have added 
chapters on the Poetry of the Bible. 



CHAPTER III 

THE STORY OF THE FOUR ORATIONS 
AND THE FAREWELL OF MOSES 

A Letter from a Son of Naphtali to His 
Brother in Egypt 

From the time our army won its last decisive victory 
over the untold hordes of our foes the march of our 
nation has been unopposed and very hopeful, every 
day seemed to bring us nearer our promised land. But 
the days have been long and many and our eyes have 
grown weary looking only upon the great desert 
stretching out on every side to the far off sky line. 
Then came a day long to be remembered, when our 
march brought us over the ridge of the desert and we 
saw below us a large lake and on the farther side a 
land of hills and valleys covered with olive trees, vine- 
yards and fields of grain, and beyond it the sun was 
sinking to its rest. 

But now a strange thing happened, the wonderful 
Cloud which had guided our long, slow march and 
paused each night for our needed rest, paused as usual, 
and then slowly rose to a great height, which was the 
signal that here we were to form a camp for a longer 
stay. The next day was a busy one, each tribe knew 
its own work and place, the Tent of Meeting was set 
up in the middle of the camp and the tents of all the 

27 



28 ORATORY AND POETRY 

tribes were arranged in order on all sides of it, as Moses 
had directed many years before. Our camp extended 
over a great space, two or three square miles it must 
have been, but was so arranged that from every part 
of it the Tent of Meeting could be easily seen. We had 
lived in many such encampments in various parts of 
the desert, in some of them for several years at a time, 
but now we were out of the desert on a high table-land 
sloping down toward the great lake, and from it we 
looked over upon *'the land flowing with milk and 
honey," and we were eager to enter upon our promised 
inheritance. 

Several days followed in impatient waiting. It was 
a camp of young men and women, scarcely any were 
over forty years old, all were eager to go on under our 
great leader in whom we placed the utmost confidence. 
Soon it began to be noticed that Moses, who in other 
encampments had passed among the tribes in familiar 
converse as a father among his children, did not now 
leave his own tent. Those who on various matters 
called upon him there, reported him well and strong 
but strangely silent and depressed. A great anxiety 
began to mingle with the impatient waiting, and groups 
of men and women, wherever formed, talked with each 
other concerning the mystery of the long delay. 

Then one morning just after the hour of worship, 
while the smoke from the altar of sacrifice was still 
rising through the quiet air, and while the people were 
still standing before their tents, there rang out three 
long blasts from the silver trumpets blown by the 
Levites before the Tent of Meeting, and easily heard 
to the farthest bound of the camp. This was a well 



MOSES 29 

known signal for the elders of the people and the cap- 
tains of the army, the representatives of all the tribes, 
to assemble at the door of the Tent of Meeting. All 
was now eager expectation, we felt sure the waiting 
was nearly over, that directions were to be given for 
the conquest and division of the land, and all the people 
watched the elders and captains as they gathered at 
the appointed place. When the leaders of the farthest 
tribes had reached us we were over twelve hundred men 
standing close together and pressing as near as possible 
to the platform before the Tent. At first there was the 
buzzing of earnest but reverent conversing with each 
other of the probable message we were to receive, but 
this soon gave place to solemn silence as we waited for 
Moses to come before us. 

When he came forth we could not help seeing the 
great change that had come upon him. His tall form 
had all his accustomed dignity and strength of bearing, 
his noble face had the majestic expression we had often 
seen before of one just having had an audience with the 
Lord God Almighty, and of bearing his message to his 
chosen people, his eyes as usual seemed not only to look 
upon our faces, knowing each one of us well and lov- 
ingly, but to look upon our inmost souls. But now for 
the first time he seemed to carry a message which was 
a heavy burden to him and which he knew would be 
hard for us to bear; his form, his face, his eyes all 
expressed his great sorrow. His voice was always 
wonderful, far-carrying, penetrating, musical, thrilling, 
conveying tenderness and pleading, sternness and com- 
mand, courage and confidence in its tones, but now as 
he spoke to us it seemed to carry a strange mingling of 



30 ORATORY AND POETRY 

sad regret and patient resignation that pulsated through 
our being from the first word until at the last it broke 
into a painful silence. 

His great speech'^ will be remembered by us all 
throughout our lives; but there were three short pas- 
sages in it that are written on our hearts. He began 
by recounting the Lord's leading us and governing us 
b}' our own chosen leaders until the time when, upon 
the report of the spies we had sent to examine the 
land, we rebelled against the Lord and he sentenced 
our fathers to wander and die in the wilderness; then 
said Closes, "The Lord was angry with me for your 
sakes, saying, 'Thou also shalt not go into the land of 
promise.' '' The voice of ]Moses trembled as he spoke 
these words, and many exclamations of sorrow broke 
forth from our lips. 

Moses again took up his speech and told of our 
wanderings in the wilderness and of our discipline into 
an orderly camp and army, and then of our recent 
victories and marches; then ]\Ioses almost overcome 
by his feelings said that after these victories and very 
recently he had besought the Lord, ''Let me go over, I 
pray thee, and see the good land beyond Jordan. But 
the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes and said, 
'Speak to me no more of this matter, thou shalt behold 
the good land from a mountain-top but thou shalt not 
go over Jordan.' " We could not now restrain our 
feelings but broke out into loud and almost rebellious 
protest. As soon as he could speak again and be 
heard IMoses began to exhort us to faith in the Lord 
our God, and to a careful obedience of his command- 

• Deuteronomy, Chapters i: 6 to 4: 40. 



MOSES 31 

ments, and at its close carried on by his almost over- 
mastering feelings, he told us of the sad result of 
disobedience, saying, '*The Lord was angry with me 
for your sakes and sware that I should not go over 
Jordan but I must die in this land. I must die here 
on this side of Jordan. You will go over into your 
great inheritance, but I cannot lead you any farther. 
I must die here : and now within a few days/' 

Then the assembly broke up in silence and each dele- 
gation returned to its own tribe. We found the people 
gathered before the tents eagerly waiting for the glad 
news that we were soon to march to take possession of 
our promised land. We had to tell them instead that 
Moses could no longer be our leader, but was about to 
die. Grief could not be restrained, lamentations loud 
and prolonged filled the camp, strong men broke down 
with sobbing, women and children wept as though their 
hearts were breaking. For years Moses had been with 
us, a great leader awakening admiration and loyalty, 
and we depended upon him as representing the Lord 
God to us, we revered him as great in himself and as 
great in his office and we had never thought of his fail- 
ing us or leaving us. Then too he had never held him- 
self aloof from us in his vast dignity, he had never 
withdrawn himself from us in his lofty position, but 
had mingled among us as a father. As he frequently 
passed through the camp he placed his hand upon the 
heads of the children, he talked with the mothers of 
their cares and joys, he spoke to the young men and 
maidens of their hopes and plans, he familiarly con- 
sulted with the elders and the captains and their men 
concerning the various details of the march and the 



32 ORATORY AND POETRY 

camp, of the past experiences and of the present 
prospects. 

That Moses the trusted leader, the loving friend 
should die, and die now as we w^ere on the borders of 
our land when we needed him so much, when our hopes 
were almost realized and yet so difficult of full realiza- 
tion, hopes centering in his leadership, hopes he had 
shared with us, which were peculiarly his, that he 
should be disappointed, that he should fail us, that he 
should die now, it was too hard for us to bear; we 
broke down under it. The grief was heartfelt and 
contagious ; men, women and children, the w^hole camp, 
as the news spread, broke forth into sobs and lamen- 
tations. 

There followed two long days of silence and sorrow, 
no songs were now heard in the camp, even the song 
Moses had given us when we came out of Egypt 
through the Red Sea ceased from our lips. Before 
there had been much laughter and rejoicing among all 
the tribes, our hardships w^ere over, our prospects 
were bright, our friendships and relationships were 
close and happy ; but now we met each other with tear- 
filled eyes and broken voices ; even the Promised Land 
itself, as we looked off upon it through the clear air, 
seemed remote and unattractive. 

On the morning of the next day the three long blasts 
from the silver trumpets called the representatives of 
the tribes to another assembly before the Tent of Meet- 
ing. In the long address"^ which Moses now made to 
us there was a careful and stern subduing of his strong 
feeling of disappointment which had so filled his 

• Deuteronomy, Chapters 5: i to ii: 32. 



MOSES 33 

former speech, his resignation to his personal fate was 
manifest and his determination to do the best he could 
for us now that he was about to depart from us was 
the prevailing tone of his whole speech. There had 
been prepared under his direction, copies of all the 
laws God had given us through him during the past 
forty years, as he had carefully arranged them; and 
now Moses gave to the elders of each tribe a copy of 
these laws and also his fatherly advice about their 
value and how best to keep them. With all the dignity 
of his character and of his vast experience he began 
his address : "Hear O Israel the statutes and the judg- 
ments which I speak in your ears this day that ye may 
learn them and observe to do them. The Lord our 
God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord 
made not this covenant with our fathers but with us, 
even us who are all of us here alive this day/' 

As he began so he continued his whole speech with 
great deliberation and earnestness as befitted his theme 
and his position, the man grown wise with vast experi- 
ence, the father of his people, the great leader and 
lawgiver of our new-born nation. At its close he gave 
the Book of the Law to the elders for all the people and 
said, "Ye are to pass over Jordan to go in to possess 
the land which the Lord your God giveth you and ye 
shall possess it and dwell therein. And ye shall ob- 
serve to do all the statutes and the judgments which 
I set before you this day." 

When, returning to our tribes, we reported to them 
this second speech of Moses it affected them as it had 
affected us, our sense of personal bereavement in the 
loss of our great leader became subdued and in quiet 



34 ORATORY AND POETRY 

reflection upon the laws our God had given us we began 
to see what a priceless possession they were and that 
they would go with us, they could not be taken from 
us if we carefully cherished and obeyed them. 

The early morning hours of the next few days were 
spent by each tribe in hearing the law. The people were 
assembled before the tents and the leading elders tak- 
ing turns, read the laws aloud and explained them in 
the hearing of all. This was the first time the whole 
collection of the laws given on various occasions dur- 
ing the past few years, some at Sinai, others on our 
journeys, had been read to all the people as a whole. 
We now knew how fully God had through ]\Ioses pro- 
vided for the life we were to lead in the land of 
promise. There was the assurance in this provision 
not only that we were to take possession of the land, 
but that our prosperity would depend upon the kind 
of life we as a nation lived in the land. 

After this deliberate time of instruction there fol- 
lowed a third call of the silver trumpets and the repre- 
sentatives of the tribes again assembled at the Tent 
of Meeting. Moses in this third speech"^ described in 
very earnest and striking terms the blessings which 
would follow a hearty and constant obedience to the 
laws. ^'The Lord shall establish thee for an holy peo- 
ple, he will open his treasury to bless all the work of 
thine hand, all the peoples of the earth shall honor 
thee, thou shalt lend and not borrow, thou shalt lead 
and not follow, thou shalt be called by the name of 
the Lord.'' The thrilling tones of blessing now gave 
place to the stern threatening of the awful curse which 

•Deuteronomy, Chapter 28: 1-6S. 



MOSES 35 

would follow the disobedience of God's laws: "If thou 
servest not the Lord thy God with joy fulness and with 
gladness of heart, thou shalt serve thine enemies in 
hunger and in thirst and in nakedness and in want of 
all things." 

Moses in this speech directed that when we had 
taken possession of the land we should set apart two 
mountains near the center of the land with a narrow 
valley between them, as the mountains of blessing and 
cursing, that these laws should be carved in stone upon 
the sides of these mountains, and that once in every 
seven years the twelve tribes in large numbers should 
assemble in solemn convocation, six tribes upon the 
one mountain and six upon the other, that the elders 
in the valley between the mountains should read the 
thrilling blessings and the stern cursings Moses had 
given, and as each blessing was read the six tribes on 
the mountain of blessing should respond with a loud 
Amen and as each cursing was read the six tribes 
upon the mountain of cursing should respond with 
their solemn Amen ; and that thus the memory of this 
charge of their great leader should be kept alive 
through all the coming generations. 

When the assembly to whom Moses had spoken 
broke up and the representatives of the people re- 
turned to the tribes, each tribe was assembled before 
the tents and the elders told them of the blessings and 
the cursings and all the people responded with their 
solemn Amens. Moses now sent directions through 
all the encampment that when the next assembly of 
the representatives of the tribes was called all the 
people, the men and the women and even the children 



36 ORATORY AND POETRY 

should gather before the tents facing the Tent of 
Meeting, and that they should listen and observe what 
the elders and captains did and said, and that then 
they all should do and say the same things. 

When the next morning after the early worship, 
while the smoke of the sacrifice was still rising through 
the still, clear air, the three long, loud blasts of the 
silver trumpets sounded through the camp, the repre- 
sentatives of the tribes gathered to hear Moses and all 
the people assembled before the tents facing the Tent 
of Meeting. There followed a wonderful and awx- 
inspiring sight. The Cloud that had led us through 
all our journeys descended from its great height as it 
had often done when we were to break up our camp and 
take up our journey again, but now besides hovering 
as usual over the Tent of Meeting it took possession of 
it, especially of the Holy of Holies, and glowing with 
a mystic light brighter far than it usually had at night 
it made the Tent itself luminous in the sunshine. Our 
fathers had told us of the lightnings of God's presence 
as he descended upon Mount Sinai at the giving of the 
Ten Commandments and now in this glowing Cloud 
God seemed to manifest his special presence again to 
all the people. 

Moses now spoke'^ to the assembled elders and cap- 
tains of the covenant God had made with us at Mount 
Horeb, that he would take us for his people; and he 
now urged us to make our covenant with him, that we 
choose him to be our God and King. With most solemn 
earnestness he told us of all God had done for us, but 
that we had not fully understood and responded to his 

• Deuteronomy, Chapters 29: 2 to 31: 8. 



MOSES 37 

great deeds; the Lord, he said, "'had not given you a 
heart to know and eyes to see and ears to hear unto this 
day." Now he had come specially near to us at the 
close of our wanderings and as we were about to enter 
upon the land he had promised us. He had given us 
his laws and now he offered to write them upon our 
hearts, they should be our most precious possession, 
and we were to be' loyal to him as our King ; we must 
now turn to him with all the heart and all the soul, we 
must choose him as he had chosen us. With thrilling 
speech Moses now closed his appeal : "I call heaven and 
earth to witness, I have set before thee this day life and 
death, therefore choose life, to love the Lord thy God, 
to obey his voice and to cleave unto him, for he is thy 
life." He paused; and under the spell of his eloquence, 
swayed by him to do what we knew to be right, all the 
elders and captains lifted their hands toward the glow- 
ing Cloud shining over and through the Holy of Holies 
and with loud and solemn voice declared, "We choose 
the Lord to be our God and King," and then we all 
prostrated ourselves with our faces to the ground be- 
fore him. All the people gathered before their tents 
heard the solemn avowal and witnessed the solemn 
action and they too responded *'Amen, we choose the 
Lord to be our God and King," and they too pros- 
trated themselves with their faces to the ground before 
God. 

Moses now urged us to "be strong and of a good 
courage, for the Lord thy God, he will go with thee, 
he will not fail thee nor forsake thee." He then called 
Joshua forth from the assembled leaders of the tribes 
and in the sight of all the people appointed him to be 



38 ORATORY AND POETRY 

the leader of the host and assured him that the Lord 
would be with him to lead his people into the land 
he had promised their fathers to give unto them. Moses 
and Joshua now turned and presented themselves be- 
fore the Lord whose presence was seen in the glowing 
Cloud hovering over and shining through the Holy of 
Holies of the Tent of Meeting. The withdrawal of 
Moses preparing for his death and the appointment of 
Joshua as the leader of the host, and the choice of the 
leaders and of all the people so solemnly made of the 
Lord to be their God and King were all then accepted 
by the Lord. The Cloud of his presence now slowly 
rose to a great height in the clear air and remained 
standing over the camp. Moses on his return to the 
assembled leaders of the tribes gave them a song God 
had directed him to prepare which they were to give 
to all the people to commemorate this great day of the 
choice of God by all the people. It was to be sung 
through all the coming generations with its solemn 
warning and its lofty cheer. The song of Moses and 
Miriam at the crossing of the Red Sea had been the 
exhilaration of the people on their wanderings in the 
wilderness, now this song of Moses at the choice of all 
the people of their Divine King was to be added, to 
keep ever fresh in mind and heart this glorious day 
with its appeal to loyalty to God and confidence in him. 
Moses as he dismissed the assembly gave directions 
that on the following morning after the sacrifice, all 
the tribes were to assemble before their tents and 
remain standing there waiting for him and he once 
again and now for the last time would visit them. 
There was little sleeping in the camp that night, every 



MOSES 39 

heart was thrilled by the momentous events of the day 
and in anticipation of the morrow when their vener- 
ated leader whom they loved as a father would make 
his farewell visit to each tribe. 

In this as in all our encampments there were three 
tribes in front of the Tent of Meeting, three tribes on 
each side and three in the rear. Between the tribes 
and the Tent of Meeting there was a large open space, 
over this space a strong voice might carry in the still, 
clear air and the action of a group of men might be 
easily seen. This morning the air was as clear as 
crystal and as still as still could be. 

Moses* came forth from the Tent of Meeting alone 
and at once advanced to the first tribe. He remained 
with that tribe a little while and seemed to be talking 
familiarly with them, he then lifted up his hand and in 
a loud voice blessed them: *'Let Reuben live and not 
die. And let not his men be few." He then passed to 
the next tribe, spoke familiarly with them, again we 
saw him lift his hands in blessing and again we heard 
his thrilling voice as he said : "Hear Lord the voice of 
Judah, and bring him in unto his people. With his 
hands he contended for himself. And thou shalt be a 
help against his adversaries." 

We now saw that our tribe belonged to the last 
division he would visit and that while his progress was 
deliberate it could not well be over a couple of hours 
before he would reach us. We also noticed that as he 
passed from one tribe to the next a single man from 
the tribe came from the ranks to accompany him, and 
soon a growing group of men followed at a little dis- 

♦Deuteronomy, Chapter 33. 



40 ORATORY AND POETRY 

tance from him. As he passed to the second division 
of the tribes his voice in blessing each tribe became 
somewhat lost in the distance and his action became 
some little indistinct to us as we watched him. The 
Tent of ^Meeting was between that division and ours. 
Our eyes wandered from his stately progress at times, 
we looked up at the Cloud of mystery high in the 
heavens, we looked over where ]\Ioses was passing the 
tribes, to the beautiful land beyond the great lake, the 
land so soon now to be our home; but these wonderful 
scenes could not long claim our attention from him. 
Sometimes also we looked behind us at the steep and 
lofty mountain which rose from the ridge of the desert. 
We had often been tempted to climb that mountain but 
the laws of the encampment were ver}' strict that no 
one should venture beyond its bounds. Then again we 
watched Moses as he and the group of men following 
him advanced toward us. 

At length he came to our tribe. There was a great 
sorrow" and a wonderful joy upon his face as we now 
looked upon him. He spoke to the women words of 
tenderness and cheer. He laid his hand on the heads 
of the children as they came to him and blessed them. 
He counselled the leaders concerning their duties. He 
called our chief leader to join the group following him, 
and then Hfted up his hand and blessing us said: ''O 
Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full with the bless- 
ing of the Lord, Possess thou the west and the south.'' 
As he passed to the next tribe our hearts would fain 
have followed him. How could we let him go ? How 
could we think of never seeing his face again, of never 
hearing his voice? 



MOSES 41 

When he had blessed the last tribe of our division he 
spoke a few words of qtiiet command and a way was 
opened for him, and he and the group of the leaders 
following him passed through the tribe and began 
climbing the mountain behind us. When he had 
reached the first resting-place he turned and lifting his 
hands he blessed all the tribes, his wonderful voice 
could be heard in all the camp as he said : "The eternal 
God is thy dwelling-place and underneath are the ever- 
lasting arms/' He looked long upon the camp and 
upon the Cloud and upon the far away hills of the 
Promised Land and then turned to resume the ascent 
of the mountain. 

When they were near the top we saw them stop and 
Moses spoke to his followers. It was a short message 
but at its close they stood still and he went on alone. 
Our eyes followed him longingly as he slowly climbed 
the steep peak and at length stood upon its top. He 
now looked back upon us, a long, lingering look and 
then he crossed to the farther side of the peak. We 
watched and watched for his return, but he did not 
come back. Our eyes saw him no more. 

The group of men who had accompanied him waited 
a long time on the mountain-side, at times they seemed 
about to follow him, but at length as the evening dark- 
ness began to gather they returned to the camp. They 
reported to us that Moses had told«them that he must 
go on alone and that he would never return, that God 
would show him the land so dear to him from the 
mountain-top, that he would then die and God would 
bury him. He then charged us that neither we nor 
any from the camp should ever climb to the mountain 



42 ORATORY AND POETRY 

top, should ever tn' to find the place of his sepulchre, 
that we must leave him in the keeping of his God. 

During the remaining days of our encampment that 
mountain-top dominated our thought, fascinated, 
tyrannized over us. When it caught the first rays of the 
rising sim, when the glare of the noon-day covered it, 
when the evening shadows clothed it, when the silent 
stars passed over it our eyes watched it dimmed with 
tears; it had Hfted our beloved leader from our sight; 
it was his lofty sepulchre. 

Then one evening the Cloud descended and hovered 
over the Tent of Meeting, it was the signal to prepare 
to march. The next day all was orderly and rapid 
preparation, but often we paused to look long and 
eagerly to the moimtain-top. WTien the next morning 
the Cloud moved in its mysterious majesty, it led us 
aroimd the foot of the moimtain and over the ridge of 
the desert to the northward. We now saw the river 
flowing into the great lake, we saw the wide valley and 
the steep hills far to the north, we descended into the 
valley coming near to the river where the Cloud de- 
scended and we formed the camp for the night. The 
next morning the mysterious Cloud, so long familiar 
to our eyes, vanished away, and we never saw it again. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE STORY OF TWO GREAT ORATIONS IN 

THE CITY OF SAMARIA, BY AMOS AND 

HOSEA, DURING THE REIGN OF 

JEROBOAM II 

A Letter from a Prince of Israel to a Merchant 
Prince of Tyre 

Fair Samaria, the city of the ivory palaces, the 
capital of our flourishing kingdom, has put on her 
gala-dress today. Her banners proudly wave from 
every vantage point, her people in their festal robes 
throng her streets and parks, while shouts and songs 
and laughter everywhere resound. The news has just 
reached us that our great King has captured Damascus 
and that he is leading our victorious armies to take 
possession of the rich plains along the rivers beyond 
the northern mountains. Soon he will return laden 
with the spoils of great cities and those prosperous 
lands will henceforth pour in their rich tribute to our 
growing wealth and power. But underneath all our 
triumphant joy there runs a strange feeling of depres- 
sion, we are conscious even in this hour of victor}^ of 
a deep foreboding of coming ruin. We know it is not 
awakened by any lack of confidence in our victorious 
King, he is as prudent as bold, a wise statesman as 
well as a great warrior. But recently we have been 
under the spell of two great orations spoken to thou- 

43 



44 ORATORY AND POETRY 

sands in the assembly squares of our city, and spread 
by them among all the people. One speaker was from 
the nation south of ours, the Kingdom of Judah, the 
other was one of our own people. 

The orator from Jerusalem called himself a prophet 
of Jehovah, we had heard long before of his proposed 
coming and we were fully prepared to give him a hot 
reception. Why should he intrude himself and his 
counsels in our affairs? What right had Judah to 
send us any messenger? What right had Jerusalem 
to compare herself at all with Samaria? For a long 
time w^e had indeed been rival cities but that time was 
past forever. The father of our present King had 
led our victorious armies into Judah, he had captured 
Jerusalem and broken down her walls, he had despoiled 
her temple and palaces and brought many captives 
back to Samaria. Judah still existed and Jerusalem 
too, but largely through our generosity. Jerusalem 
had indeed the great Temple of Solomon, it fairly 
dominated the city, it cast its shadow upon her palaces, 
it frowned upon her pleasures, it restricted her plans, 
but so much more our reason to rejoice that we w^ere 
free from its baleful influences. Then came our pres- 
ent King, the great Jeroboam; he carried our power 
far to the east, and the lands east of the Jordan and 
far south to the Dead Sea became tributary to us; 
they sent their flocks and herds, their gold and silver, 
their ivory and spices to enrich our city. Now Jero- 
boam was conquering our northern enemies and re- 
storing and even enlarging the Kingdom of David and 
Solomon and making it our own. The Ten Tribes 
formed the real Kingdom of Israel; Judah with its 



AMOS, HOSEA 45 

dependent tribe was too small and weak to compare 
with us. We held not only by far the largest but the 
richest portion of the land, the land that had not felt 
the touch of drouth since the time of Ahab, a land 
flowing with milk and honey. Judah need not send 
her prophet to teach us about the Lord God, she had 
no need to instruct us about him, she had an entirely 
wrong view of him. 

We too might have erred in our former views of 
him but Jehu, the head of our present line of kings, 
had broken down the House of Baal in our city and 
now we worshiped Jehovah as represented in the Calf. 
The sculptured bull stood in the grove on the highest 
mound in our fair city, the symbol of prolific life, of 
pleasure and power. Surely Jehovah wanted his 
favored children to enjoy life to the full, he would 
not restrict and restrain them from luxurious living 
and wide dominion. Our great prosperity came from 
Jehovah and we could honor him only by enjoying it. 
Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet of Jehovah, had 
foretold the triumphs of Jeroboam, had really directed 
him in his conquests and so made plain to us all that 
Jehovah approved our worship of him. Had not the 
same Jonah been sent to Nineveh the capital of 
Assyria, that great power looming up in the far north- 
east which might sometime threaten our welfare, to 
denounce to them a message of destruction from 
Jehovah? And although Nineveh was spared for the 
present it was only spared because of its repentance, 
it would flourish only as long as it did not molest vis ; 
so we reasoned and confirmed ourselves in our proud 
views of our own prosperity and in our disdain of 



46 ORATORY AND POETRY 

Jerusalem. Then too we learned by probable report 
that this prophet of Jehovah coming to us was not 
one of the princes of Jerusalem, not even a citizen of 
the capital city, that he was only a farmer, a herds- 
man in the poor lands south of Jerusalem; and that 
he was not sent by any body of men either prophets, 
priests or rulers but was coming of his own purpose 
with a deep and irresistible conviction that he felt 
impelled to come. 

So we waited his coming with hot resentment and 
disdain in our hearts. 

Soon it was reported that he had entered the city 
and would address the people the next morning in the 
assembly square near the south gate. A great multi- 
tude of all classes gathered to hear him, curiosity to 
see what kind of a man he was and who attended 
upon him, was the leading motive that brought us 
together, though some of us thought perhaps there 
might be some importance attached to his message. 
The crowd excited itself speedily with mutter ings of 
contempt for Judah and her herdsman messenger 
which soon became cries of scorn and bitter cursings. 
The more moderate among us became apprehensive of 
violence against him and his followers which would 
disgrace our liberal-minded city as if we were afraid to 
hear what our inferior neighbors could say about us, 
but our efforts to quiet the mob were vain, our bush- 
ings for silence were turned at once into many hissings 
of contempt and hatred. 

Suddenly there came a great change over the crowd, 
the cursings and hissings were speedily subdued into 
respectful silence as a middle aged man came through 



AMOS, HOSEA 47 

the door back of the platform and advancing alone 
stood facing the multitude. He was tall and well- 
built and of great dignity of bearing. With utmost 
self possession he looked over the surging, angry throng 
waiting for and thus seeming even to demand a hear- 
ing. His bravery awakened our admiration, his confi- 
dence in our being willing to hear him was itself a 
compelling appeal to us. When he began to speak his 
voice thrilled us, it was far-carrying, well modulated, 
clear, distinct and musical and his language was well 
chosen; this man might be a farmer but evidently he 
was no boorish man but one of fine powers and much 
culture. 

His first words^ claimed our fixed attention : Amos 
spoke not a word about himself, made no apology for 
his coming, not even an explanation of it but at once 
with deep solemnity and earnest sincerity entered upon 
his great message. ^'Jehovah will roar from Zion and 
utter his voice from Jerusalem and the habitations of 
the shepherds shall mourn and the top of Carmel shall 
wither." We had always associated the thunder re- 
verberating over the hills with the voice of Jehovah 
and here was an intimation that he would mainly 
judge the southern kingdom for that was more a land 
of shepherds, ours was an open country of cultivated 
fields of grain and our hills were covered with olive- 
orchards and vineyards, Carmel was ours truly but 
if only its top withered we could easily endure that. 
After a short but impressive pause Amos turned our 
thoughts far to our northern enemies w^here our King 
was now leading our armies. We could hardly be- 

♦ Amos, the whole book. 



48 ORATORY AND POETRY 

lieve our ears when we heard him say w^ith great 
fervor, **Thus saith Jehovah, Tor three transgressions 
of Damascus, yea for four, I will not turn away the 
punishment thereof because they have threshed Gilead 
with threshing instruments of iron, and Syria shall 
go into captivity.' " So this prophet says our cause is 
just, for Damascus had threshed Gilead which be- 
longed by right to us, we had recaptured it and we 
w^ere now^ besieging Damascus and this prophet fore- 
tells we will capture it, that we will capture the palaces 
of Benhadad and that our victorious King will bring 
all the north border, all Syria, into captivity to us. 
Our people are quick to apply messages to others 
and are easily excited with good news and readily 
change their feelings; a little while before they were 
cursing the prophet ; now they gave him wild approval, 
they waved their arms, they clapped their hands and 
shouted their applause. This is a great prophet, he 
says Jehovah will give us victory over our strong 
enemies and bring them into subjection to us. Amos 
now with the same fervor turned to our other enemies, 
first to the south, then to the north, then again to the 
far south and to the east, and with the same telling 
phrase, "Thus saith Jehovah, For three transgressions, 
yea for four," he threatened the punishment of God 
against Gaza, against Tyre, against Edom, against 
Ammon, against Aloab. As he advanced he became 
more and more eloquent, carried along by his enrap- 
tured vision of coming judgment ; and we too became 
fascinated with his conception of the glory of Jehovah 
as the ruler and judge of all the nations. In each 
case Amos gave the reason for the threatened punish- 



AMOS, HOSEA 49 

ment, evidently he was well acquainted with the his- 
tory of our people in the far off as well as in the near 
by past. In the early day Gaza and Tyre rejoiced in 
the effort of Edom to bring our whole people into 
bitter captivity, in more recent days our eastern neigh- 
bors Ammon and Moab had been exceedingly cruel 
in their warfare against us and in all the cases there 
had not been simply a single and solitary offence but 
many: ^^three transgressions, yea four." ''Justice, 
justice," we cried under the spell of the eloquence of 
Amos ''that is right, that is right, Edom deserves it, 
Moab deserves it, it is right, it Is just." 

The prophet had renewed our faith in the God of 
our fathers, in the great Ruler of all nations ; and he 
had appealed to our slumbering conscience and aroused 
it to approve of truth and righteousness. To our 
unspeakable surprise Amos now, with great sadness 
but with intense passion, with tears in his voice, turned 
to his own nation, our rival nation, and using his 
choice phrase, now burned into our consciences, said, 
"For three transgressions of Judah, yea for four I 
will not turn away the punishment thereof. Because 
they have despised the law of Jehovah I will send a 
fire upon Judah and it shall devour the palaces of 
Jerusalem." Our consciences recognized the righteous- 
ness of the threatened judgment but now we could 
not break forth into shouts of approval as in the other 
cases, our feelings were subdued for we remembered 
that Judah, after all the hard rivalry of our recent 
separation, was still our brother. 

Amos now at length brought his message home to 
us; with sorrow for us thrilling in his voice and still 



50 ORATORY AND POETRY 

with passionate earnestness as the prophet of the Most 
High he said, "Thus saith Jehovah, For three trans- 
gressions of Israel, yea for four, I will not turn away 
the punishment thereof. Because they have sold the 
righteous for silver, they pant after the dust of the 
earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way 
of the meek." We listened in awe-struck silence, we 
could not do otherwise than listen. We seemed in the 
presence of Jehovah himself, the just Ruler of all the 
nations, Amos was his messenger, we listened as for 
our lives, we hung upon his words as they took posses- 
sion of our consciences. 

He did not rebuke us for worshiping our God by 
means of the Calf whose image in the grove crowned 
the highest place of our city; he did not denounce us 
as idolaters as if we had forsaken Jehovah, he ac- 
knowledged that we offered our worship to him; but 
he claimed that we made it the occasion of confirming 
ourselves in our transgressions against our brethren, 
in our losing all sense of brotherhood. He spoke as 
if Jehovah spoke through him, "I hate your solemn 
assemblies, I despise your feasts, I spurn your sacri- 
fices and peace offerings. If you would truly worship 
me let judgment roll down as waters and righteousness 
as an overflowing stream through your streets and 
through your land." 

Now there followed the swift and stern indictment 
of the injustice, the luxury, the licentiousness, the 
hardness of heart of our selfish indulgence; he did 
not mince matters, he did not seek to clothe grave 
faults with pleasing words but set them forth in their 
hideous nakedness. ''Ye have no respect for family 



AMOS, HOSEA 51 

ties nor for the virtue of young womanhood, ye do 
deeds of violence and lust. 

''Ye hate him that speaketh uprightly, ye turn right- 
eous judgment into gall and wormwood. 

'*Ye live in luxury, ye sing idle songs, ye drink wine 
in bowls, but ye have no sympathy for your afflicted 
brethren. 

"Ye have houses of hewn stone, ye have beds of 
ivory, ye have pleasant vineyards but ye trample upon 
the poor, ye crush the needy." 

Alas we felt that in these stern words he truthfully 
described what our great prosperity had wrought in 
us, that we had pursued pleasure and power recklessly 
and that in worshiping the sculptured bull we had 
cultivated and confirmed ourselves in sensuality. 

The prophet recounted how many calls we had to 
turn from these low views of God as if he approved 
of our indulgent lives, and in the same telling phrase 
repeated time and time again, "Yet ye have not re- 
turned unto me saith Jehovah" he rebuked our per- 
sistency, there were indeed "three transgressions yea 
four"; and at length he cried aloud in a way that 
reached and awakened and troubled our conscience, 
"Therefore prepare O Israel to meet thy God." He 
now set before us with all the rapt gaze of the impas- 
sioned orator, vision after vision of advancing judg- 
ment, he entreated for us but in vain, Jehovah had 
passed an irrevocable sentence, we were to be carried 
away captive beyond Damascus. 

We listened in silence, once only there was a fierce 
interruption. Amaziah the priest of Bethel threatened 
to send word to our absent King and he called upon 



52 ORATORY AND POETRY 

the prophet to fly back to Judah and confine his 
prophecy to that nation. The answer came quick and 
stern, "The King shall die by the sword; you, oh 
priest and your family, shall die in an unclean land. 
Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land. 
Jehovah has sent me, I came not of myself; he took 
me away from following my flock, he said, Go proph- 
esy to my people Israel. I faithfully give you his 
message." 

When Amos ceased speaking and left the platform 
we quietly went to our homes. There was much 
troubled sleep in Samaria that night as there has been 
ever since. The next day we supposed he would speak 
to us again, but when we inquired for him we learned 
that he was already on his way back to his home. 

It was nearly four weeks after this that the second 
great oration that so deeply impressed us was spoken, 
and this was by one of our own people, a man in high 
position among us and greatly respected by all, but 
one whom we had never thought of as a prophet of 
Jehovah, nor had he even thought this of himself, 
as he told us, until a short time before he was forced 
by this feeling to speak to us. Some ten years ago 
HosEA the son of Beeri had married Gomer the daugh- 
ter of Diblaim, both were of noble families and of 
great wealth, and when he brought her as a bride to 
his palace the whole city shared in his joy. Gomer 
was a great beauty and of charming manners, she had 
many suitors but Hosea easily excelled them all in 
position, in manly qualities and bearing; they were 
both young and it was a marriage of ardent love. 
Within a few years three children were born, two boys 



AMOS, HOSEA 53 

and a girl, and the happy home-life in the fair palace 
flowed buoyantly on. 

Our women of noble rank are not kept in seclusion 
as is the case with some of our neighboring nations, 
they freely pass through our streets, meet in the assem- 
blies of the people and take part in the public worship. 
Often Hosea and Gomer were seen on the plain before 
the sculptured Calf of Samaria, taking part in the 
dances before that shrine; they both loved pleasure 
and power and delighted in the worship of this God; 
she was a splendid dancer as was he, and the people 
admired greatly the abandon of their joy. Their 
palace was the center of gracious and luxurious hospi- 
tality and often large parties gathered there in dancing 
and feasting ; and whenever the noble and the wealthy 
of other lands visited our proud city Hosea and his 
wife gave them hearty welcome and splendid enter- 
tainment. Gomer was queenly in her beauty, in her 
rich robes and flashing jewels she commanded ad^ 
miration of all, and her wealth of passionate and 
happy spirits together with her free and charming 
manners fascinated those she wished to please; and 
Hosea by his ability and energy rose from place to 
place until he became the Governor of the city and 
next to the King in honor and power. 

Some three years ago a great Prince of Judah 
visited Samaria with a large retinue and was enter- 
tained in the palace of the King. Much attention was 
paid to him by Hosea, he was a frequent guest at his 
palace and it was noticeable that he was specially fasci- 
nated by Gomer and was devoted to her company. 
One day Hosea visited one of his large estates on the 



54 ORATORY AND POETRY 

slope of the mountains toward the Jordan valley and 
spent the night there. When he returned the next 
morning he found the Prince of Judah with his retinue 
had left the city and had taken Gomer with him. 
Gathering a hundred horsemen he followed them in 
hot pursuit. At nightfall they, from a high hill, saw 
their encampment in the valley beneath ; now a strange 
revulsion of feeling seized Hosea. He felt that he 
could easily destroy the seducer of his wife and cap- 
ture her. But such a slaughter of her lover would be 
a hideous experience to her, a life-long horror and 
would hopelessly alienate her from him, and to have 
her person a captive in his palace and not her heart 
restored to him would sadden his whole life and that 
of his children. So he called back his eager horsemen 
and returned to his city and to his desolate home. 

Speedy disaster came to the Prince of Judah, he fell 
under the displeasure of his king w^ho confiscated all 
his property leaving only a single house near Jeru- 
salem to his family, and sent him a captive to be held 
by his ally the King of Egypt. Gomer would now 
have suffered great hardship had not Hosea heard of 
her threatened distress and sent abundant provisions 
for her support. Gomer thought these provisions 
came from the Prince, her lover, until she discovered 
among those who brought the clothing and the olives 
one of her old servants in Samaria who told her Hosea 
had sent them. She learned also from him how 
Hosea had followed her and spared her, how he always 
spoke kindly of her to the children, and how eagerly 
he asked about her when they returned from bringing 
his gifts to her. She was so overwhelmed by this 



AMOS, HOSEA 55 

constant love that she sent him a message asking if she 
could come back. Hosea came himself to her humble 
home near Jerusalem and brought her back to his 
palace and restored her to her place as his wife; and 
they were lovers again as before, the joy of their 
home-life being fully restored. 

But Gomer could not help fascinating men; her 
remarkable physical beauty and form, her cheerful, 
happy spirits and her warm, passionate nature appealed 
to men; and it was not rare that a man of physical 
charm and ardent nature made a strong appeal to her. 
So the inevitable soon happened again. This time, a 
member of an embassy from Damascus courted her 
and won her and she fled with him. But when she 
reached Damascus she found her lover had other 
wives, that she was the favorite but only one of many, 
and she soon wearied of him. So tremblingly she, 
with a few attendants, rode back to Samaria ; and she 
entreated Hosea to receive her again into his home 
and his heart, which he was eager to do. 

Both Hosea and Gomer were in the assembly and 
near to the platform when Amos gave his message 
from Jehovah, when he so sternly and faithfully de- 
nounced the self-indulgence that prevailed in our city 
and nation, and they like all the spell-bound crowd 
were greatly impressed. 

The next day Hosea, with a few attendants, rode 
down the valley to the coast of the Great Sea to in- 
spect that part of the country left in his charge by our 
absent King; and Gomer and her maidens gaily waved 
their farewells from his palace walls. 

A week before this a wealthy Prince of far-off 



56 ORATORY AND POETRY 

Nineveh who had visited our city and had often been 
a guest of Hosea, had left us on his return to his own 
country and we thought he was by this time far beyond 
the borders of our nation. But toward evening of the 
day Hosea had left for the sea-coast this Prince re- 
turned. He threw himself at the feet of Gomer, told 
her he could not live without her, and pled with all 
his ardent love that she would share his life and for- 
tunes. The next day she, this time taking her three 
children w^th her, fled with, her lover to the north. 
Word was sent by a swift courier to Hosea, who at 
once returned. 

But as before he did not pursue her to kill her lover 
and capture her, he would not. force her to return as 
his slave, he could not satisfy his heart with anything 
less than her love. So he sent messengers after her; 
he wrote her a letter pleading with her by her sense 
of right, by her past experience, by the interests of 
his own and her children, and by his quenchless love 
for her to return to him. In a week's time the messen- 
gers returned, they had caught the flying pair at Tyre 
and had delivered his letter and his messages to Gomer. 
But Gomer would hardly read the letter or listen to 
their pleas; she seemed in a rapture of love with her 
Prince, her large, languishing eyes beamed only on 
him, her thrilling voice was all tenderness and longing 
for him ; and she had so taught her children too, that 
they were eager for the excitement of a new life in 
reckless and splendid Nineveh. So they had gone on 
their journey; and his messengers returned without 
her and without any hope of her ever returning to him. 

Hosea now confined himself largely within the walls 



AMOS, HOSEA 57 

of his desolate palace. When he was called to exercise 
the powers of government, especially when he heard 
contested cases and passed judgment upon them, there 
was a strange mingling of sternness and leniency in 
him. He withdrew himself from all the busy scenes 
and the gay, joyous life of our city, and his closest 
friends could hardly obtain an audience with him. He 
had always been very popular, heartily sharing in all 
the pleasures and plans of our prosperous city; but 
now he retired from the people and was wrapped up 
in his gloomy thoughts and great distress. We all 
admired him and we shared in his heart-troubles, 
though there were many who could not sympathize 
with him in his sparing the lives of the seducers of his 
wife and in his retaining his love for her. 

After some two weeks of this retirement Hosea sent 
out word through the city that he wished to speak at 
a certain hour the next day to an assembly of the 
people on the hill-top in the center of the city before 
the grove of the sculptured Calf. 

Early the next morning the people assembled. The 
glorious sun never shone upon a fairer scene. Be- 
neath us lay our large and prosperous city. On either 
side and before us, beyond the far limits of the city, 
rose the hills and mountains terraced to their tops 
with vineyards and olive-groves and among them the 
many villages of the farmers glimmering in the sun- 
light. Back of us stretched the broad valley for many 
miles with its meadows, its waving fields of grain, its 
prosperous villages, and far-off on the horizon one 
could catch a vision of the Great Sea. Before the 
grove stood the white marble statue, the sculptured 



58 ORATORY AND POETRY 

Calf of Samaria, looking down upon the prosperous 
city and the rich valley to the far-off sea. The Egyp- 
tians worshiped the sun as the source of life and of all 
living creatures they chose the bull as its favorite 
symbol. We were wiser than they, we worshipped 
Jehovah as the source of life, he gave the sun, itself, 
the power to shine, but we adopted the bull as the chief 
symbol of life, of all living beings the most prolific, 
most powerful, most pleasure-loving. Surely our 
worship had been greatly approved and richly blessed. 
Ours was a fruitful land; ours, a triumphant city; 
ours, a pleasure-loving people. 

When we assembled before the Calf of Samaria we 
each one made obeisance to him, we prostrated our- 
selves before him as the source of all good to us. As 
we waited for Hosea we recalled to each other the 
many scenes of worship vs^hich he, the chief man of 
our city, had there shared with us and how he and 
the pleasure-loving Gomer had often led in the festal 
dance; and our spirits were subdued and our hearts 
saddened as we thought of him in his desertion and 
of her in the embrace of her false lover in a far-ofif 
land. 

When at length Hosea came before us we noticed 
that he made no obeisance to the image of the bull and 
that he stood with his back to it as he spoke''' to us. 

His speech from beginning to end was a torrent of 
conflicting emotions, flaming in their strength. His 
voice sometimes rang with fierce anger and would 
quickly change to the tenderest and most yearning 
love ; his eyes flashed with hot indignation or beamed 

• Hosea, the whole book. 



AMOS, HOSEA 59 

with touching appeal ; every pose he took, every move- 
ment he made, all his intense action revealed a warrior 
striking down his enemies in battle or a mother gather- 
ing her children in her arms. He spoke freely to us 
of his wife and of her unfaithfulness to him, of his 
intense and burning indignation against her as she 
went after her false lovers and of his fierce anger 
against her seducers and then he told us how he could 
not cease to love her, how he could not, try as he 
would, tear her from his heart, how even now when 
there was no hope he hungered for her return, how 
he had appealed to her, how he would welcome her 
back ; and that.his failure, his hopelessness only seemed 
to deepen his love for her. 

Then he told us that Jehovah had shown him how 
this experience of his for these few years, made in- 
tense now by the loss of his wife and children, was 
but a faint reflection of his own burning indignation 
and quenchless love for his people Israel who had, 
now for over two hundred years, been false to him 
and who were, at this very moment, given up to their 
false worship of the Calf of Samaria. He showed 
him how they knew in their hearts that he was the 
righteous and pure God and could not be at all repre- 
sented in the lustful and dominant bull, that in wor- 
shiping the bull they had cast off all self-restraint, all 
obedience to God in righteous living and had given 
themselves up to self-indulgence in the wild pursuit 
of pleasure and the lust for wide and selfish dominion. 

Thus he showed us how his own experience, known 
to us all, was the way God had taught him; and so 
commissioned him to be his prophet to us to make a 



6o ORATORY AND POETRY 

final, appeal, he feared a hopeless one, to turn from 
the brutal bull and to come back to the righteous God. 
His own indignation against the faithless Gomer 
showed us God's indignation against us : "Ye are not 
my people, I will not be your God. I have cast off thy 
Calf, oh Samaria, it shall be broken to pieces. My 
anger is kindled against you; ye sow to the wind, ye 
shall reap the whirlwind. Woe unto them, they have 
wandered from me. Destruction to them, they have 
trespassed against me." 

So his quenchless love for Gomer showed us God's 
quenchless love for us. "She decked herself with her 
earrings and her jewels, she went after her lovers and 
forgat me, saith the Lord. But I will allure her. I 
will speak comfortably to her. I will give her vine- 
yards ; and she shall make answer, she shall sing again 
as in the days of her youth. How can I give thee up, 
oh my beloved! I will take her in my arms, I will 
draw her with cords of love. Ye shall be my people, 
I will be your God.'' Then he made his final appeal 
to us. "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God, for 
thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Say no more to the 
work of your hands, Ye are our gods. Come back 
to him in whom the fatherless find mercy, he will heal 
your back-sliding, he will love you freely. He will be 
as the dew to Israel ; ye shall blossom as the lily and 
cast forth your roots as Lebanon." 

The effect of this faithful and earnest speech of 
Hosea was very disturbing to us. We had all con- 
demned Gomer as giving free rein to her pleasure- 
loving nature and as being untrue to her faithful, 
loving, constant and self-sacrificing husband, untrue 



AMOS, HOSEA 6i 

to the noblest ties and to the highest obHgations. While 
we sympathized with Hosea in his quenchless love 
there were many who would have heartily approved 
had he followed Gomer and her lovers with fierce 
vengeance. Now we had had forcefully applied to our 
own case that we were like Gomer in being false to 
the righteous and loving God, and of giving ourselves 
up to the self-indulgence of pleasure and power. We 
could not help feeling the truth of the charge and also 
fearing that, though God still loved us and appealed 
to us, we were so enamored of our worship of the 
Calf of Samaria that we would never return to God. 
We felt that as Gomer's character had been confirmed 
by her many treacheries and as she was now so in- 
volved in the condition of her own choice that she 
probably would never return to Hosea, so in the same 
way we were so fully confirmed and involved in our 
worship of the bull that we would never return to God. 
So when the news came that Jeroboam had captured 
Damascus and was conquering the rich lands beyond 
the northern mountains, though the speeches of both 
Amos and Hosea filled us with strange forebodings 
of evil, we speedily and easily overcame them and gave 
ourselves up to popular rejoicing. We have chosen 
our lot: a life of pleasure and wide dominion, and 
come what may we will hold by our choice. 



CHAPTER V 

THE STORY OF FOUR ORATIONS IN 

JERUSALEM, BY JOEL, MICAH, AND 

ISAIAH, IN THE TIME OF ITS 

GREAT PROSPERITY 

A Letter from a Prince of Judah to the 
Archon of Athens 

It is very difficult for some of us to see how the 
golden age can be any better than the present era. It 
is true that our history has been checkered : part of it 
splendid when good kings have ruled and the city has 
flourished, part of it shadowed with the rule of evil 
kings and with disaster coming even to our walls. But 
now for many years prosperity has been fully estab- 
lished. Our northern neighbor has prospered greatly 
and is living at peace with us; many of her best people 
visit us freely and attend the great feasts at the 
Temple, they are guests of friends in the city or en- 
camp on the hills just outside the walls. That kingdom 
stands between us and the growing kingdoms farther 
north and so acts as our guard and defense from 
possible danger. 

With the many yeafs of peaceful development great 
wealth has come to us. While the city itself has 
grown large and splendid, a city of palaces, our coun- 
try, under the thorough cultivation of small estates 

62 



JOEL, MICAH, ISAIAH 63 

has become very fruitful, a country of many bright 
villages of happy homes. 

It is hard to understand the prophets : some of them 
promise a golden age, some of them threaten speedy 
ruin, and often the same prophet in the same speech 
will mingle both promises and threats. Many of these 
prophets find it difficult to gain a hearing but there 
was one a few years ago of such fine eloquence that 
crowds hung upon his words and there are two now 
living whom the people are always eager to hear 
though we may not approve or even fully understand 
their messages. 

The speech of Joel several years ago was made to 
the crowds attending the temple-service at the close 
of the evening sacrifice. It was one of the great feast- 
days and the full choir of a couple of hundred instru- 
ments and at least two thousand voices had just ren- 
dered one of the noblest temple songs. The court 
upon which the magnificent Temple stands is lifted 
a few feet above the court of the people. Here stands 
the Great Altar where the priests offer the morning 
and evening sacrifice for the whole nation. The choir 
of the Levites which assembled from all parts of the 
land on the feast-days was divided into two sections 
facing each other with the altar and the ministering 
priests between them while in front, facing both altar 
and temple was the large orchestra of trumpets, horns 
and flutes, of harps and drums. On such days the 
court of the people is crowded, ten thousand men and 
women filled the open space and the magnificent cor- 
ridors surrounding it. 

Well might our city be proud of such a scene: the 



64 ORATORY AND POETRY 

splendid Temple of Solomon with its lofty walls of 
white marble and its roof of pure gold flashing in the 
rays of the setting sun, the open spaces filled with a 
multitude of worshippers, the corridors of magnificent 
marble columns and golden roofs and the far-famed 
gates into the courts of the Temple upon which Solo- 
mon had lavished the wealth and genius of a nation. 
Well might our land be proud of our worship of the 
Most High God ; all this splendid building, the wonder 
of the world, all the throng of people from city and 
country had but one purpose, to worship God. Surely 
our God must be pleased with such devotion to him. 

The song the choir sang that evening was the Song 
of the Redeemed"^ : a few strong voices with the trum- 
pets accompanying them, called upon all to praise the 
Lord for his goodness ; then followed four responsive 
songs, one part of the choir taking the first, the other 
division taking the second. Each song began with a 
few plaintive voices, to the accompaniment of the 
flutes, describing men in distress : then a great appeal 
arose from many strong voices to God for help. Then 
the whole division of the choir with the accompani- 
ment of all the instruments described the help given 
by God, and called upon all to praise him for his 
goodness. The four songs sung responsively by the 
two sections of the choir awakened an overwhelming 
spirit of praise and now the whole choir joined in a 
great chorus of song; this spirit spread irresistibly 
and soon the whole congregation was swept into the 
vast chorus of praise to God for his goodness, ten 
thousand voices with all the instruments rendering to 

♦Psalm, 107. 



JOEL, MICAH, ISAIAH 65 

God the heart's adoration. No such music, we fondly- 
believed, could be heard elsewhere on earth; and our 
souls were lifted to heavenly heights on the wings of 
song. This evening, too, there was a glorious sunset, 
the whole heavens were aflame with crimson and gold 
foretelling a fair tomorrow. 

As the last note of the music died away in silence 
Joel stepped forth from the ranks of the Levites to 
the platform overlooking the court of the people* and 
began the great oration whose thrilling effect charms 
and ever will charm our minds and hearts, though we 
cannot claim that we fully understood it all or even 
approved that which we did understand. 

He was a most dramatic orator. He seemed to 
call up to his side on the broad platform various 
classes of people and then make them speak to us 
the messages he desired to enforce upon us. He 
called up the old men to describe a disaster such as 
had not before been seen in their day; he called upon 
the young revellers, the drinkers of wine, to describe 
hostile armies conquering the land ; he called upon the 
husbandmen to describe a country of vast desolation; 
he called upon the priests to lament in sackcloth that 
there was no offering for the house of God; he called 
upon the representatives of all the people to sanctify 
a fast, to call a solemn assembly and cry unto the 
Lord. ^'Alas for the day, for the day of the Lord is 
at hand, and as destruction from the Almighty shall 
it come." 

Then he, in his own person, poured out upon our 
terrified souls his vision of the approaching destruc- 

• Joel, the whole book. 



66 ORATORY AND POETRY 

tion. Our fathers had described to us what their 
fathers had told them had occurred in their day, and 
we thought with the exaggeration incident to old-age 
describing a far-gone past, it was a terrible scourge 
of locusts that had darkened the sky as the night and 
completely devoured the land. Joel recalled this story 
of the locusts and in his vivid way depicted the coming 
of a great nation from the north whose vast armies 
should in orderly array and in irresistible strength 
spread over the land: "they march every one on his 
way and they break not their ranks, they leap upon the 
city, they run upon the wall, they climb up into the 
houses, they enter in at the windows like a thief, the 
earth quaketh before them, the heavens tremble, the 
sun and moon are darkened, the land is as the Garden 
of Eden before them and behind them a desolate 
wilderness, yea, and none hath escaped them, a fire 
devoureth before them and behind them a flame burn- 
eth." The destruction by the locusts, exaggerated as 
it might be, was but a faint forecast of the complete 
and terrible destruction by the northern armies. 

Joel now called upon us, as we rent our clothes and 
cried out in protests, "to rend our hearts and not our 
garments and to turn to the Lord our God." Then 
followed the most glowing description of the way God, 
if wt turned unto him, would check and turn back 
the destroying armies and would greatly bless our 
land; and the glowing description of the blessing was 
almost as bewildering in its brightness as the threatened 
destruction had been terrible. But through it all there 
was a strange commingling of the darkness and the 
brightness, as if there was a grave doubt in his mind 



JOEL, MICAH, ISAIAH 67 

as to whether we would turn to God and be blessed 
by him or would be overtaken with the incursion of 
the locusts, with the vast hordes of an irresistible and 
terrible foe. 

This oration closed with a vivid description of the 
Lord calling upon all the nations : "Haste ye and come 
all ye nations round about and gather in the Valley 
of Decision, for there will I sit to judge all the nations, 
multitudes, multitudes in the Valley of Decision, for 
the day of the Lord is near." Our souls were filled 
with awe as he placed before us the great day of God 
judging all the nations. Joel declared that the wicked- 
ness of the nations was great and their judgment 
would be severe and he foretold that a holy nation 
would arise of those who found their refuge in God. 

He had not denounced against us any great or 
special wickedness but he had implied that our worship 
was heartless and false and had exhorted us to turn 
to God. How had we ever turned away from him, 
were we not his worshippers ? Was not this splendid 
Temple and this vast assembly even now engaged in 
the evening sacrifice? Was not this great swelling 
song of praise all in the honor of God? What was the 
meaning of the "rending of the heart,'' of the "turning 
to God," what the threatened disaster, what the glow- 
ing promise? We felt a vague unrest, as if we were 
not altogether right in God's sight, as if something 
were wanting in our worship, something defective in 
our great prosperity. Joel had brought before us in 
his graphic way the all-powerful and the all-seeing 
God and that God was looking upon us and judging 
us. The impression made by the eloquence of Joel 



68 ORATORY AND POETRY 

was disturbing to our conscience; it disturbed our 
good opinion of ourselves. 

But the morrow, as the sunset had promised, was 
fair; the Temple was splendid and the worship mag- 
nificent. The city was rich, the nation prosperous 
and our great King ruled with kindness and firmness. 
Our equanimity returned as prosperous days continued, 
though our memories frequently recalled Joel's vivid 
visions of coming destruction, his earnest calls to 
turn tmto God and his graphic description of God's 
judgment of all nations. We could not forget it if 
we would. 

The two prophets now living whom the people are 
always eager to hear differ from each other in many 
striking ways, one is far superior to the other in 
eloquence, he is as far as we know the finest orator 
of all the nations; and both differ from Joel who 
passed from us a few years ago. Joel was a member 
of a highly educated class, the Levites, the teachers of 
the nation; he was one of the leaders of the great 
choir; he was a noted and cultured citizen of the 
capital city. 

MiCAH was a countryman, the owner of one of the 
small estates some twenty miles southwest of Jeru- 
salem toward the Great Sea, a prosperous farmer. It 
was the policy of our nation to maintain these small 
estates and to have them descend in the same family 
from generation to generation. Much of our great 
prosperity depended upon the attachment of families 
to their homesteads, upon the thorough cultivation of 
these small estates, and so upon the independence, 
contentment, virtue and happiness of our people. But 



JOEL, MICAH, ISAIAH 69 

there was a tendency when great wealth accumulated 
in our capital city, for the rich families to desire 
country homes; these often were not contented with 
small estates, they must have parks of many broad 
acres and must dwell in large mansions. 

Micah lived upon the sloping hills flowing down to 
the fertile plains along the Great Sea, a most attractive 
region of great abundance and splendid outlooks upon 
land and sea. He witnessed the gradual absorption of 
many small estates by the wealthy citizens of Jeru- 
salem for their country homes. He saw the dire 
results that must follow, depriving many families of 
the means of gaining a modest living from the soil 
and withdrawing much land from profitable cultivation 
to become the pleasure grounds of the rich and thus 
defeating the policy of the laws inherited from Moses 
the great law-giver. 

Micah also witnessed another evil tendency of our 
prosperous times. It was the policy of our nation, 
inherited also from the laws of Moses, to live in 
righteous dealings with our neighboring nations but 
not to rival them in luxurious living nor enter into 
political alliances with them. Micah lived upon the 
brow of the hill overlooking the only great highway 
between the empires of the north and east and the 
great empire of Egypt along the Nile; he saw the 
great caravans of the traders and the pomp and cir- 
cumstance of princely wealth and of the political em- 
bassies passing to and fro over this highway of the 
nations along the plain by the sea. He also saw and 
with growing dislike, that Jerusalem in her wealth and 
pride was sending down to Egypt her traders, her 



yo ORATORY AND POETRY 

wealthy travelers and also her political embassies ; and 
was receiving back from Egypt, not only corrupting 
manners of luxurious living but hopes of political 
alliances. 

So his heart burned with indignation and he felt 
called of God to go to Jerusalem and rebuke these 
two evil tendencies of the times. When he came to 
the city and dwelt there long enough to observe many 
other tendencies of our great prosperity the flame of 
his indignation burned into a red hot passion that 
took full possession of his being. 

His great oration"^ w^as spoken in the temple-courts 
at the close of the morning sacrifice, it was not a 
feast day and only the ordinary daily choir had 
rendered the morning hymn of praise, the attendance 
was mainly of our own citizens, numbering perhaps 
some three or four thousand, and was about to dis- 
perse in silence when Micah stepped upon the plat- 
form and shouted ''Hear ye people the word of the 
Lord." He was of commanding form, his voice of 
great depth and power, he spoke deliberately but evi- 
dently with restrained passion, which while always 
controlled grew more intense, his choice of language 
was fine, his figures of speech wxre striking and at 
times he became vividly dramatic. 

He began by describing the Lord coming in great 
majesty to visit judgment upon the northern nation of 
Israel, and then upon Judah for our nation had been 
corrupted by her neighbors to the north and to the 
south. He then in the plainest and most graphic 
language described our transgressions, none of us could 

• Micah, the whole book. 



JOEL, MICAH, ISAIAH 71 

misunderstand what the Lord had against us and the 
more prosperous among us, those generally regarded 
as specially favored, were most severely denounced 
as leaders in transgression. Our sins were not spe- 
cially of worship, as Joel had intimated, but of injur- 
ing our weaker and less prosperous brothers. "Woe 
to them that devise iniquity and practice it because 
it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields 
and seize them, and houses and take them away ; they 
oppress a man and his heritage; they cast out the 
women of my people from their pleasant houses, from 
their young children they take away my glory." 

Not only in the country but in the capital city the 
strong in their prosperity crush and trample upon their 
weaker brethren. 'The treasures of wickedness are 
in the house of the wicked, the abominable scant 
measure, the wicked balances, the bag of deceitful 
weights. Your rich men are full of violence, they have 
spoken lies, their tongue is deceitful in their mouth." 

He then in the severest terms denounced the princes 
and leaders of the people for their bribery and self- 
seeking; men's faces flushed with shame and indigna- 
tion as each looked upon the other as sharing in or 
approving such sins. "Ye heads, ye rulers, is it not 
for you to know judgment : but ye hate the good and 
love the evil, ye pluck off the skin of my people and 
eat their flesh, ye abhor judgment, ye pervert all 
equity; ye judges judge for reward, ye priests teach 
for hire, ye prophets divine for money, and yet ye say 
the Lord is with us." Then came the terrible threaten- 
ings of coming destruction. "Therefore shall Zion, 
for your sake, be plowed as a field and Jerusalem shall 



y2 ORATORY AND POETRY 

become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the 
high places of a forest." 

One of the most dramatic passages of his great 
oration was his description of the trial of all the nation 
before the mountains as judges. God summoned the 
people, he charged them with disloyalty to him, he 
called witnesses to show his faithfulness in all his 
dealings; the people were silent, they could make no 
answer. And then the mountains pronounced their 
judgment : ^'The Lord is not pleased with your temple- 
worship; ye know what is good, what he requires of 
you, do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your 
God.'' Micah also described a coming time of great 
prosperity when all the people should do justly, love 
mercy, and walk humbly with God. This coming time 
would be under the reign of one born in the small 
town of Bethlehem, rising from the common people 
and his life linked with theirs from the far past; this 
King should be great to the ends of the earth and 
should bring peace to all the people. 

Micah has made several such speeches to the temple- 
worshippers. There is a strange fascination about 
him. Whenever it is thought he will speak unusual 
throngs gather to hear him. Part of the attraction is 
that he is from the country and from the poor people 
while most of those attending the temple-worship are 
from the city and from the rich and noble classes. He 
criticises and denounces us but he is so plain spoken 
and earnest, so evidently sincere in believing that the 
Lord has sent him, so brave and faithful to his charge 
that he wans our respect; then too, we feel in our 
consciences that he is more than half right and that we 



JOEL, MICAH, ISAIAH 73 

should have more respect for the rights of our lowly 
brethren and more humility toward God. 

The other orator now living whom the people are 
always eager to hear is Isaiah. He is an elegant and 
polished speaker but all his elegance only enforces the 
plain, clear message he brings to the crowds who hear 
him. He is a Prince of the royal family, a nephew 
to the reigning King ; he lives in a palace almost equal 
in splendor to the palace David built, and when he 
comes to the Temple it is often in company with the 
King and the princes and officers of his court. 

The Palace of Solomon crowns a neighboring hill 
to the Mount of the Temple, across the narrow valley 
between these hills there springs the splendid ascent 
by which the King goes up into the house of the Lord, 
the ascent which impressed the Queen of Sheba on 
her visit to Solomon, as one of the wonders of Jeru- 
salem. This high path-way enters the portico of the 
Temple where the pillars are of the finest marble, their 
capitals of purest gold, which are called the Pillars 
of the King, by these the King and his court stand 
during the morning and the evening sacrifice. The 
platform upon which this glittering company stand is 
a few steps above the Court of the People and a single 
step below the Court of the Priests and open to the 
gaze of all assembled at the temple-worship. It is 
from this platform that Isaiah speaks. He speaks to 
the King and his court, to the priests and the choir 
of the Levites, and to the people of city and country 
who assemble for worship. Whenever the rumor 
spreads through the city that Isaiah is to speak throngs 
crowd to hear him, the Porch of the King, the Court 



74 ORATORY AND POETRY 

of the Priests and the Court of the People are all 
filled with eager listeners, a splendid audience to in- 
spire to noblest eloquence the greatest orator our nation 
has ever known. 

He is now^ in the full maturity of his powers. It is 
perhaps twenty years ago that he described to us his 
call of God to give his message to the people, the awe- 
inspiring vision he had of God in his great Holiness 
with the seraphim covering their faces and their feet 
with their wings, and yet ready to fly to do his bidding.f 
We remember, who can ever forget, his youthful 
enthusiasm as he described to us the Golden Age God 
was ready to bring to his people which was delayed 
in its glorious coming only by their unworthiness, 
and how he urged us ''O house of Jacob come ye and 
let us walk in the light of the Lord." We are still 
thrilled as we recall his youthful energy as he de- 
nounced the luxury and profligacy of his times; his 
vivid description of the haughty princesses, the daugh- 
ters of Zion "w^alking with stretched forth necks and 
wanton eyes, mincing as they go and making a tinkling 
with their feet," so our nation was satisfied with its 
wealth and wanton in its pride; and how the Lord 
w^ould strip off all this bravery, "the rings and jewels, 
the festival robes and turbans, and give a rope for a 
girdle and sackcloth for a stomacher," how he would 
give to the proud and wanton nation ''branding in- 
stead of beauty." 

Not only does Isaiah speak to the temple-worship- 
pers, he has two other and widely different audiences. 

* Isaiah, 6th chapter. 
t Isaiah, 2-4 chapters. 



JOEL, MICAH, ISAIAH 75 

He has always free access to the King and his court 
and often brings a special message from God to them, 
especially to the King exhorting him in all the affairs 
of state to have faith in God, in his presence and care, 
and to give to him loyalty and strict obedience. He 
also frequently addresses the populace in the streets 
and open places in the city, for there are many who 
never attend the temple-worship, who are so irreligious 
that they never even go through the forms of religion. 
It is very difficult to get a hearing from this large class 
of people for any religious message, and Isaiah has 
adopted some remarkable devices to bring to their 
attention the message God sends through him. To 
draw a crowd to hear him he has at times raised a 
broad tablet by his side, upon the black surface he 
writes a startling word in bold white letters, then w^hen 
crowds come to see, he speaks upon this word and after 
that, holds them spell-bound by his eloquence. So at 
other times he lifts his young son upon his shoulder 
and speaks about him ; or he sings a song in his high, 
clear voice until the crowd gathers; or he takes off 
his coat and his sandals and thus draws a crowd. All 
these methods effectively served his purpose. 

During the past few weeks Isaiah has made two 
great speeches which have produced a vast impression 
upon the city : one he made in the street to the irreli- 
gious crowd, the other he made to the worshippers 
in the Temple. 

Within the past twenty years a great change has 
come upon our northern nation, our brother-kingdom, 
Israel. That kingdom has at times been at war with 
us but generally has stood between us and the powerful 



76 ORATORY AND POETRY 

heathen kingdoms further north. After the death of 
their great King Jeroboam II, a number of weak 
kings have ruled; one of them in aUiance with Damas- 
cus fought against us, but was easily driven back. 
But in recent years a greater kingdom has arisen north 
and east of Damascus and has shown its vast power 
both upon Syria and Israel. A former king of As- 
syria, Pul, had in a short war taken much gold, silver 
and jewels and carried them back to his capital 
Nineveh, making it a treasure-house of the spoils of 
nations. The present king, Tiglath-pileser, is a man 
of new ideas, and carries on his conquests in a far 
more terrible way, he takes possession of the lands he 
conquers and holds them as a part of his ever-enlarging 
kingdom ; and to hold them firmly he carries away the 
best of their people as captives to other portions of 
his kingdom, and replaces them with colonists of his 
own people. Within the past few weeks rumors have 
come to us that this great king has thus captured all 
the northern portion of Israel; and while peace has 
been made, it gives promise only of a short duration, 
and then Assyria may sweep down and take possession 
of our sister-capital, Samaria, may sweep down even 
to our own borders. All is prosperous with us, Jeru- 
salem flourishes, our nation is at peace with all other 
nations, but there is this threatening shadow from the 
north that darkens Israel and may advance even to 
Judah. 

We expected that Isaiah would speak upon this 
great news, that he would give the people his states- 
man's view of it, that he would specially proclaim to 
us the message of our God concerning it; but we 



JOEL, MICAH, ISAIAH yy 

supposed of course that his speech would be to the 
leading people, the religious people worshipping in the 
Temple. 

But his first speech was to the irreligious populace.* 
The most crowded part of the city is where the street 
of the tent-makers opens into the bazaar of the silk 
and rug merchants, just beyond this is the street where 
the caravans from the East enter the city, and on the 
other side of the bazaar stretches the street where the 
poorest dwellers in the city find their rude homes. It 
was at the corner of these streets and the bazaar that, 
in the cool of the morning, Isaiah took his stand on a 
small platform and began to sing, in his far-carrying 
and musical voice, his Song of the Vineyard. Soon 
a great crowd gathered about him and he spoke to them 
concerning God's vineyard, the inhabitants of Jeru- 
salem, the men of Judah. He had cared for and 
blessed them ; ''and when he looked for grapes behold 
his vineyard brought forth only wild grapes ; he looked 
for judgment but beheld oppression; for righteous- 
ness, but heard only the cry of the wronged." In 
plain but stinging words he showed the people their 
sins and pronounced woes upon them ; *'how the pros- 
perous joined house to house ignoring the rights of 
their brethren; how the revellers inflamed themselves 
with wine and forgot their God ; how the wicked sinned 
as with a cart-rope, how they called evil good and good 
evil, how they justified the wicked for a reward, how 
they took away the righteousness of the righteous by 
oppression." Then Isaiah, in his righteous indignation, 
declared that the Lord would lay waste his vineyard, 

* Isaiah, sth chapter. 



78 ORATORY AND POETRY 

that his anger was kindled against his people. *'He 
will lift up an ensign to the nation from afar and will 
hiss for him from the ends of the earth. They shall 
come with speed swiftly, none shall be weary nor 
stumble, their arrows are sharp and all their bows bent, 
their horses' hoofs are as flint and their wheels like a 
whirlwind, they shall roar like a lion and lay hold of 
their prey and carry it away safely, and there shall be 
none to deliver." 

The effect was tremendous. Men tore their hair 
and rent their garments; they lifted loud voices in 
lamentation and fear; they fled through streets and 
bazaars to their homes and hid themselves ; they seemed 
to see the enemy swarming over the walls of the city; 
they cried out as if the lion had laid hold of its prey. 
It soon spread through the whole city, this terrible 
threatening of the wrath of God by Isaiah. Fear took 
possession of all, an awful dread of coming disaster. 
The eloquence of Isaiah struck home to the heart of 
the people since their consciences condemned them 
for the sins he denounced. 

A few days after this it was rumored through the 
city that Isaiah would speak in the Temple at the 
close of the evening sacrifice. It was not a feast day, 
only the ordinary choir of three hundred voices and 
forty instruments was in attendance and only a few 
priests were needed to offer the daily sacrifice, but in 
order to hear Isaiah the high-priest and his attendants 
and all the Levites in the city, the teachers, the judges 
and the lawmakers of the people crowded the Court 
of the Levites. The Court of the People was also 
crowded and especially the Porch of the King's pillars 



JOEL, MICAH, ISAIAH 79 

where stood the King and the princes in attendance 
upon him. The choir had just ended the evening song 
of praise and the high-priest had just spread forth his 
hands and pronounced the blessing of God upon the 
people, when Isaiah came forth from the princes at- 
tending the King and began his address. His clear 
ringing voice could be heard easily in the still evening 
air by those farthest removed from him, his eyes flashed 
their meaning upon princes, Levites and people as he 
turned from one to another ; his form, as he stood still 
or moved about upon the platform, and all his gestures 
were instinct with feeling; the whole man spoke and 
swayed us at his will. 

His great speech had the wide sweep of a states- 
man's vision ; we saw, as he made us see them, nations 
rise and fall; it had also the keen insight of a prophet 
of God watching his unfolding plans ; and he made us 
see that in God's plans righteousness would be tri- 
umphant while wickedness wherever found could bring 
only disaster. 

He began by describing the land of Zebulun* and 
the land of Naphtali, the portions of our brother- 
kingdom of Israel which had just been captured by 
Assyria, beautiful and fruitful lands at the feet of 
the great mountains and now those lands were swal- 
lowed up by a triumphant heathen nation. Then he 
described that there would arise a great light upon 
those lands dispelling all the present darkness. This 
light he described in the most bewildering way as 
coming from a child, a son of our people, chosen of 
God; he gave him names which were far beyond our 

•Isaiah, 9th, loth, nth, and 12th chapters. 



8o ORATORY AND POETRY 

powers even to imagine: Wonderful, Counsellor, the 
Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of 
Peace; he assured us that of the increase of his gov- 
ernment and peace there should be no end for it 
vi^ould be established through judgment and righteous- 
ness even forever; *^the zeal of the Lord of hosts w^ill 
perform this." 

Now by a swift transition he brought us back from 
this splendid vision of the far future to the present 
condition : and this not only of Israel but of our own 
nation and of Jerusalem itself. This condition was 
the reverse of righteousness, and wickedness would 
surely bring disaster. In four stinging indictments he 
associated us with our northern brethren, they were 
already feeling the rod of God's wrath, we would soon 
feel it also. ^Tride and stoutness of heart, rejecting 
God's righteous law, bring the enemies that devour 
with open mouth." Impenitence, profane and evil 
doings and folly awaken God's anger: "Wickedness 
and cruel, selfish oppression of one's brother bring of 
their own nature, punishment and disaster." The last 
indictment was specially severe : "Woe unto them that 
decree unrighteous decrees, that write perverse things, 
that turn aside the needy from judgment, that take 
away the right of the poor, that make widows their 
spoil and the fatherless their prey, they shall bow 
down under the prisoners and shall fall under the 
slain." He turned in righteous indignation to the 
Levites, to the princes, to the people, and as each 
indictment closed with its appropriate punishment he 
spoke a ringing refrain, as if he knew all were in 
vain, that the wickedness was persistent : "For all this 



JOEL, MICAH, ISAIAH 8i 

his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched 
out still." 

He now represented God as calling for the Assyrian, 
the nation already triumphing over our brethren, to be 
the rod of his anger, the staff of his indignation against 
our profane nation. God gave him the charge ^'to take 
the spoil, to carry away the prey, to tread us down 
like the mire in the streets." Then he described how 
the Assyrian in his pride and cruel strength would 
sweep over the land; he made us see as he saw in his 
rapt vision, *'he is come, he is passed through, he 
layeth aside his baggage, he has gone over the pass, 
he taketh his lodging, the people gather only to flee, 
he halts, he is here, he shaketh his hand at the hill 
of Jerusalem." 

Then when our hearts were filled with fear and 
horror Isaiah's whole manner changed, he seemed to 
have a glorious vision of a great rescue; there was a 
swift transition of thought and feeling as he told us 
again of a child to be born, a shoot from the stock and 
a branch out of the roots of Jesse: and he described 
the reign of this far-coming King, ^'his delight shall 
be the fear of the Lord, he shall defend the poor and 
the weak with equity, and with the breath of his lips 
he will slay the wicked, righteousness and faithfulness 
shall be his clothing." There will follow peace and 
prosperity beyond the dreams of the earth, for his 
shall be the reign of the righteous King and all the 
nations of the earth shall praise him. 

The evening shadows were gathering fast over the 
city as we went down from the Temple to our homes, 
many were the heart-searchings and the head-shakings 



82 ORATORY AND POETRY 

as we conversed with one another on the way. W^as 
our unrighteousness as bad as Isaiah charged? Had 
we not been this very evening giving our God the 
most splendid worship in the most splendid Temple? 
Were not the riches of the city, the prosperous coun- 
try, the peaceful nation, the indications of God's great 
favor to us ? The great nation of the north had indeed 
treated our brother-nation with severity, doubtless they 
deserved it, but he was surely a great way off from us. 
There might indeed come a time in the far future 
when a child, through righteousness, would exert a 
wide and peaceful sway, Isaiah's vision was beautiful, 
even glorious: it might some day in the far future 
come to pass; but for us the present was good enough. 
Wq were not very bad ; how could we always be think- 
ing of the rights of others, of the poor and the weak? 
]\Iust we not look out for ourselves? Each for him- 
self in the affairs of life; and if we maintained the 
Temple and its worship surely God would be pleased 
with us. 

Besides we have Isaiah, the statesman, the prophet, 
the splendid orator still with us and in the prime of 
Hfe; should there come need he will often, as in the 
past, give us the benefit of his counsels and his visions. 

SUPPLEMENT TO CHAPTER V 

The Book of Isaiah 

Arrangement in the book of the speeches of Isaiah 

Pakt L Isaiah a young man. Uzziah and Jotham 
the kings. About 740 B. C. Judah has 
had disasters in the past, now is pros- 
perous but corrupt. 



JOEL, MICAH, ISAIAH 83 

Chapter i. Temple Speech: passionate rush of 
feeHng describing corruption and past disaster with a 
call to present reformation and a glowing promise of 
forgiveness. 

Chapters 2, 3, 4. Temple Speech: the Golden Age 
Speech : glowing description of walking in God's ways, 
stern denunciation of their evil ways, even the women 
are corrupt, assurance that a righteous life will bring 
prosperity from God. The lure of the Golden Age 
both at the beginning and the end of the speech. 

Chapter 5. Street Speech: singing draws a crowd, 
a parable of a vineyard. It brings forth wild grapes, 
six woes pronounced upon the wild grapes. God calls 
an army from the north to sweep over the vineyard. 

Chapter 6. Isaiah describes his call to be a prophet 
and it confirming him amid discouragement. Isaiah's 
favorite title of God "'The Holy One of Israel," al- 
most peculiar to him, evidently arises from this call. 

Part II. Isaiah in his prime, in middle age. Ahaz 
and Hezekiah the kings, about ']22 B. C. 
Judah is invaded by Israel and Syria, and 
again is freed. Israel is invaded by 
Assyria and at length Samaria falls and 
Israel is taken captive. The northern 
kingdom is destroyed, becomes a part of 
Assyria. 

Chapter 7. Speech in the presence of King Ahaz 
and his court : exhorts him to take the shield of faith 
and be calm, promises the speedy driving back of 
Syria. 

Chapter 8. Street Speech: uses the black-board 
with words on it meaning '*speed, spoil, hurry, pray" 
to draw, startle and impress the crowd; tells them 
that while freed from present danger Assyria will 
soon sweep over Israel and come down near to 
Jerusalem 



84 ORATORY AND POETRY 

Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12. Temple Speech, the Naph- 
tali Speech described in the letter. 

Chapters 13-23. Prophecies against neighboring 
heathen nations, evidently extracts from speeches to 
the people to strengthen the faith of the just among 
them when heathen nations were apparently more 
victorious and prosperous than Judah. 

Chapter 20 shows a device of Isaiah going in his 
shirt sleeves and bare feet at times to draw the atten- 
tion of the irreligious multitude to his speeches. 

Part III. Isaiah becomes an old man, the old man 
eloquent. Hezekiah the king about 711 
B. C. The northern kingdom is now a 
part of Assyria. Judah is invaded by 
Assyria, Sennacherib besieges Jerusalem. 

Chapters 24-27. Temple Speech: alternate descrip- 
tions of judgment and salvation, the judgment fearful, 
the salvation glorious, increasing in feeling till one 
can hear the groans of those suffering judgment and 
the songs of those enjoying salvation; a strong com- 
mingling of impending disaster unless the nation re- 
pents, and of a future glory to those who obey God. 

Chapters 28-35. Seem to be notes or sketches of 
various speeches in the temple courts of this period 
and several quite full extracts of polished orations. 
The general bearing of these speeches is to encourage 
the faithful when danger seems impending and to 
warn the corrupt among the people of a sure if not 
immediate disaster. Whatever the condition of each 
day the living issues were religious, not mainly reli- 
gious observances but religion in a righteous life. 

Chapters 40-66 are described in chapter 13 as lofty 
oratory breaking forth into poetry. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE STORY OF THREE ORATIONS IN JERU- 
SALEM, BY ZEPHANIAH, HABAKKUK 
AND JEREMIAH, ON THE EVE OF 
ITS DESTRUCTION BY NEBUCH- 
ADNEZZAR 

Letters of the Princess Zebidah in Jerusalem 

AND Her Husband, the Prince Azariah, 

A Captive in Babylon 

The Princess Zehidah to Prince Azariah: 

When the last gleam of the spears sank beyond the 
hills north of the city my heart seemed to die within 
me. That I should be left here and my husband be 
carried a captive by our enemies to far off Babylon 
seemed more than I could bear. It was only the care 
of our young children and the expectation of another 
child that at all reconciled me to my hard lot ; it seemed 
my God-given duty to remain in our palace while you 
faced the long march alone. It may cheer your lonely 
heart to know another son has been given us ; the baby, 
the very image of his father, is strong and well and 
I am a proud mother, in splendid health, and as happy 
as I can be with my husband so far away. 

Our city is speedily recovering from its terrible 
siege and capture. Our King is of David's line and 
though he rules under the sway of Babylon he seems 
of an independent spirit and is arousing the people to 

85 



86 ORATORY AND POETRY 

the same independence. The Temple has been re- 
paired and refurnished and the people assemble for 
worship and the priests minister at its altar as before 
it was desecrated. While there are a few who feel 
that we have not reformed, as a nation, from our evil 
ways and that more terrible disaster threatens, the 
great mass of the people hold that we have suffered 
enough, more than our due; that we have reformed 
enough, all that could be required of us and that we 
are on the eve of great prosperity. They expect the 
speedy return of our captives from Babylon, that our 
nation will soon break off its foreign yoke and that our 
God will soon show plainly that we are still his favored 
people. I wish I could believe all this for oh! how I 
wish for the quick return of the captives! Do you 
remember, Beloved, when we heard together the great 
oration of Zephaniah in the courts of the Temple? 
All was fair in our lives then, we had just been mar- 
ried, the festivities of our two princely and wealthy 
families were the pride and delight of the city; and 
you and I were among the Temple worshippers that 
day with our love and joy voicing themselves in songs 
of praise to our God. All was prosperous in our fair 
land under the reign of the good King Josiah and 
the Temple courts were thronged with worshippers. 
We were surprised when our friend Zephaniah stepped 
from the group of princes surrounding the king and 
reaching the platform of the priests began to speak 
to the people. We had honored him as one of the 
noblest of men but had not thought of him as a 
prophet, but now as he began to speak there was that 
indescribable something in the bearing of his person. 



ZEPHANIAH, HABAKKUK, JEREMIAH 87 

in the flash of his eye, in the tone of his voice* that 
proclaimed he had a message from God to us. What 
a heart-searching message it was! He charged the 
people with worshipping the host of heaven upon the 
house-tops, with worshipping the gods of other na- 
tions, with worshipping even their own king equally 
with God himself. He turned to rebuke the King's 
sons and the princes, arrayed as we were in foreign 
apparel, for adopting the manners and customs of 
idolaters. He charged the high and low alike with 
violence and deceit, with licentiousness and fraud 
breaking down even the sanctity of the home. He 
represented God as searching Jerusalem with a candle 
and finding only those who, in their hearts, felt that 
God was indifferent to good and to evil. He then 
called upon all to recognize the presence of the Lord 
who cares for purity of worship and the resulting 
purity of life above all else. 

Having revealed to us as by a flash of lightning 
the prevailing corruption, he denounced upon city and 
nation the terrible judgment of God. It was impend- 
ing. How his words still ring in my memory ! "The 
day of the Lord is at hand, a day of wrath, a day of 
trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desola- 
tion, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of 
clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and 
alarm against the fenced cities and against the high 
battlements, a day of distress among men who shall 
walk like blind men because they have sinned against 
the Lord, and their blood shall be poured out as dust.'' 

Alas, alas, though there were many who were true 

* Zephaniah, the whole book. 



88 ORATORY AND POETRY 

in their hearts to God, you and I among them I know, 
though there were many who turned unto God in true 
repentance, still the nation was not touched; and 
Zephaniah proved himself the herald of the coming 
storm. In less than a year from that day of warning 
the good King Josiah, then an ally of the Assyrians, 
had been killed in battle and his son and successor had 
been captured and carried into Egypt and our nation 
had become tributary to Egypt. 

That was indeed "a day of darkness and gloomi- 
ness" but it was quickly followed by ''the day of clouds 
and thick darkness." The great King of Babylon, 
Nebuchadnezzar, with his fierce army had captured 
Nineveh, he swept down over Assyria and fought 
against Egypt and conquered it, and we became tribu- 
tary to Babylon. He took back with him to Babylon 
some of our finest young men. Do you remember 
what a splendid boy Daniel was? And your cousin, 
bearing your own name, was almost as noble in his 
youthful beauty as you were when I first fell in love 
with you. 

After a few years came our fierce rebellion against 
Babylon under our King Jehoiakim and our "day of 
thick darkness" was followed by "the day of the 
trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities and the 
high battlements." Nebuchadnezzar with his great 
victorious army drove our armies before him with 
terrible slaughter and shut them up in Jerusalem and 
then he laid siege to our fair city. Bravely you led 
your men, bravely all the princes and their men fought 
for our king and nation ; and we women cheered you 
on ; but all was in vain. The walls were broken down. 



ZEPHANIAH, HABAKKUK, JEREMIAH 89 

Nebuchadnezzar and his fierce army entered the city, 
and we were in his power. 

When he returned to Babylon he took with him 
many captives, the noblest of the land; he took you, 
my beloved. What is your fate in that far-ofif land, 
among your enemies, the strange, fierce and powerful 
race who have conquered us? What are you doing 
among them ? What are you enduring there ? 

Is the day Zephaniah described *'the day of wrath, 
the day of trouble and distress" almost over? You 
remember he closed his great oration with a descrip- 
tion of a day when the nation should return with the 
whole heart unto God. In what glowing terms he de- 
scribed it, "The Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, 
a mighty one who will save; he w^ill rejoice over thee 
with joy, he will rest in his love for thee, he will 
rejoice over thee with singing." Oh that the day of 
light and gladness would speedily dawn, that the 
captivity might return with joy, that you, oh beloved, 
might be returned to my arms and to your children. 
But there are many who fear a still greater darkness 
and distress ; for the nation, they say, has not yet re- 
turned with the whole heart unto God. 

It was only this morning after the daily sacrifice 
that I heard another great oration in the Temple 
courts. The scene was far different from that when 
you and I, in our happiness, heard Zephaniah: the 
court of the king and the princes was then crowded 
with a glittering throng of noble men and women. 
This morning our King Zedekiah was standing by the 
splendid King's Pillar of Solomon but he seemed 
gloomy and depressed, and there were but few princes 



90 ORATORY AND POETRY 

standing about him; we could not help thinking of 
the many princes and great men who were captives in 
far-off Babylon. Neither was the court of the people 
crowded with happy, prosperous worshippers as in that 
day when we looked out upon them; many of that 
gathering, the most wealthy and the most skillful, 
were also captives in Babylon. 

The Priests had ministered at the Altar and the 
large choir, with the many instruments of music, had 
rendered one of the most joyous songs of praise, but 
there seemed little heart in the singing and the minis- 
tering: all lacked the exuberance of joyful praise of 
the so recent past when you and I together were car- 
ried along in its exultation. The ministering priest 
had just pronounced the benediction, giving the bless- 
ing of God to his people, and we were turning to leave 
the Temple when there stepped forth from the Court 
of the people a tall, dignified man and, reaching the 
platform, he beckoned to the people to hear him. Many 
of the people seemed to know him and to hold him 
in high regard, and quickly turned to listen to him; 
but very few of the princes seemed to have any interest 
in him and were detained only by a vague curiosity 
to hear one of the people speak. I afterwards learned 
his name was Habakkuk and that he was one of the 
most upright business men of the city and a man of 
fine culture, a man righteously indignant against 
wrong and injustice however successful they might be, 
whose sympathies were heartily enlisted in favor of 
those who were unjustly oppressed. 

It was the most dramatic speech'^ I have ever heard, 

♦ Habakkuk, the whole book. 



ZEPHANIAH, HABAKKUK, JEREMIAH 91 

and all were soon listening as for our lives. He did 
not seem to be speaking to us at all though every word 
could be easily heard and there was thrilling pathos in 
his voice. He looked up into the clear sky and seemed 
to be speaking to God. Then he listened to some 
mysterious voice and repeated what it said to him, 
what God said to him; but even this word of God did 
not seem to be for all of us, but only for him and for 
those like him. 

He began by expostulating with God, "O Lord how 
long shall I cry unto thee of violence and thou wilt 
not save? Why dost thou allow iniquity to prosper 
and judgment to be perverted, and the law to be slack 
and the wicked to compass the righteous, and strife 
and spoiling to triumph?" While he did not speak 
directly to us we began to feel that he was speaking 
to God of us, and we began to tremble, and to wonder 
what God thought of us, what he would say in reply. 
Then Habakkuk paused and listened. Soon he 
seemed to hear a voice from the bending heavens and 
he repeated to us what he heard. Jehovah says, "I 
will call the Chaldeans again, that bitter and hasty 
nation; their horses are swifter than leopards and 
more fierce than the evening wolves; they fly as an 
eagle that hasteth to devour; they come for violence; 
they gather captives as the sand." Habakkuk was cast 
down by this message, so were all who heard him. 

But he soon recovered his spirit, he straightened to 
his full height and looking up into the clear heavens 
he began to expostulate with God. "O Lord my God, 
thou holy one, thou who art of purer eyes than to 
behold evil, how canst thou call the wicked to swallow 



92 ORATORY AND POETRY 

up the man that is more righteous than he?" We 
Hstened awe-struck. That which had often troubled 
us, that the worshippers of false gods, that the fierce 
Chaldeans should be allowed to conquer us, the wor- 
shippers of the one true God : that they who were so 
much worse than we, bad as we were, should crush us, 
and our God look calmly on and permit and even seem 
to approve their cruel oppression : we could not under- 
stand it, but we had hardly dared to think of it; we 
certainly never dared to speak to each other of it ; and 
here was one of our number who dared to look up into 
the heavens and say to God himself, "How can you 
call the Chaldeans, so much worse than we, to triumph 
over us?" 

Then Habakkuk paused again, now for a much 
longer time; he looked up into the heavens as if he 
were gazing on tremendous scenes and listening to a 
wonderful message ; when he began to speak it was as 
if he were talking to himself of what he saw and heard. 
*^The Lord has taken me up as into a high tower, I am 
looking out upon his plan among the nations, the great 
unfolding of his purpose in his appointed times. I am 
standing by him who orders all great movements 
among men, I cannot hinder them, nor can anyone, but 
he is explaining them to me. Bad as we are, the Chal- 
deans are worse than we ; God knows it, and does not 
approve of them; he simply is using them to accom- 
plish his purposes which are righteous and true alto- 
gether. There is a wide sweep to his great plans, 
there is a far-off consummation which he is bringing 
about; from all the present confusion and great dis- 
aster there will arise a kingdom of faithfulness to God 



ZEPHANIAH, HABAKKUK, JEREMIAH 93 

and to man, a kingdom of peace and prosperity. In 
the present distress, in the greater distress soon to 
come, the just man can be independent of his sur- 
roundings, he can Hve by his faith, he can look up to 
God and trust him, he can look into the future and 
know that God will bring about his kingdom of right- 
eousness." 

Then Habakkuk took a lofty flight of eloquence. 
He seemed to be standing by the throne of the Ruler 
of the nations. He denounced woe after woe against 
evil-doers whoever they were and however triumphant 
in the present : * Woe to him that increases that which 
is not his, woe to him that getteth an evil gain for 
his house, woe to him that succeedeth by violence even 
in building a city, woe to him that maketh his neighbor 
drunken, woe to the maker of dumb idols. However 
they may prosper the Lord is against them, he will 
use them to bring about repentance, he will throw 
down the persistent in wickedness, he will establish his 
kingdom in righteousness." Habakkuk closed his won- 
derful oration with the loftiest expression of his con- 
firmed faith in God. He described the glorious 
majesty of God as he had revealed himself and his 
plans to the prophet upon his high tower overlooking 
the nations ; he described him as "threshing the nations 
in his anger, as going forth for the salvation of his 
people" while the whole earth was filled with his 
glory. "Whatever shall be the distress" said the 
prophet "however great shall be the disaster coming 
upon us, I for my part will hold fast to God: though 
the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in 
the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail and the fields 



94 ORATORY AND POETRY 

shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the 
fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will 
rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salva- 
tion." 

The effect of this great speech upon the multitude 
was various. We all of us felt that we had heard the 
verdict of God upon our character : that the nation had 
not repented of her transgression, that darker days 
were coming upon us, that the day of wrath was draw- 
ing nigh when God would call again the Chaldeans 
to oppress us. Many went down from the Temple- 
courts with frowns on their faces, muttering their 
wrath, with rebellion ruling in their hearts. Many 
talked of reforms that were needed and that should be 
immediately undertaken. Many tore their garments, 
covered their heads and sobbed out their repentance, 
and called aloud upon God for mercy. I for my part, 
and there were some I have learned who felt like I 
did, had a strange exaltation of spirit, I felt with 
Habakkuk that whatever befell us I would trust in 
God. I had a strange feeling that I was standing in 
God's presence, that he was explaining to me his pur- 
poses, that he was asking me to trust him, that he 
was assuring me of his watchful care. So I write to 
you about this great oration. May you, beloved, in 
far-off Babylon, have unshaken faith in the God of 
our salvation. May you, a captive in a strange land, 
and I, dwelling in this stricken city, be conscious of 
God's presence with us and trust him. We cannot joy 
indeed in our sorrowful separation and our uncertain 
future, but may we joy in the Lord, the God of our 
salvation. 



ZEPHANIAH, HABAKKUK, JEREMIAH 95 

Prince Azariah to the Princess Zebidah 

An opportunity has arisen for me to send you a 
letter. Can it be that nearly half a year has passed 
since I saw your dear face? But I will not fill your 
heart with sadness by recounting my sorrows and 
loneliness. I know that you and the children are safe 
in the care of King Zedekiah who rules under the 
strong sway of Babylon, and I think often of you and 
them protected and comfortable in our home palace, 
under the shadow of the great Temple of God. This 
is not only a land far off but a strangely different land 
from the home land. When I go upon the house-top 
and look toward Jerusalem, and then look all around 
beyond the bounds of the city, there is not a mountain 
in sight not even a hill, we are living on a boundless 
plain. After passing through beautiful Damascus we 
journeyed several days northward and then turned to 
the east. The country became more level but we could 
see the great mountains on the horizon; at length we 
could see only their blue outlines and snow-capped 
Hermon rising above them, then we lost them alto- 
gether. Our journey then followed a great river, and 
the hills along its great plain were far off and con- 
stantly receding until long before we reached Babylon 
we pursued our weary march through a boundless 
plain. 

Babylon itself is a vast city stretching out many 
miles along the great river. In its center there is a 
great mound, a hill made by the labor of men's hands, 
and on this hill there is a magnificent temple where 
they worship their gods. Our conquerors are tolerant 
of the worship of their captives of our and of other 



96 ORATORY AND POETRY 

races, we are allowed to worship our God; but theirs 
is only a kindly tolerance of our ignorance, for they 
say our God is only a local god, confined to our home- 
land, and not able to defend even his own land against 
the power of their gods. 

On the gentle rise from the plain to the mound of 
the temple are builded the great palace of King 
Nebuchadnezzar and the many palaces of the princes 
and the wealthy men of the city. I live in one of these 
palaces, my beloved, and I have no harsh treatment 
nor any real hardship for while I am a captive I have 
become almost a companion of Istaroch, one of the 
wise-men of the Chaldeans. His palace looks over 
the river and his fine garden stretches down to the 
water's edge. There are many slaves in the palace and 
they are all eager to do my bidding. But I do not 
see the wise-man's family, he has no sons and his 
wife and daughters live in their part of the palace, and 
whenever I catch a glimpse of them in their side of the 
garden, they are heavily veiled. The eunuchs who 
wait upon them tell me they are charming women, 
beautiful in face and figure, clad in rich garments and 
of most gracious manners. 

The wise-man has great knowledge on many sub- 
jects, has read many books, and I respect and admire 
him for his vast learning and noble spirit. His house 
is full of books, great piles of the brick books of the 
national history and literature and many rock slabs and 
papyrus rolls of other nations, of Egypt and even of 
our own land. I have charge of this vast library and 
he often consults me upon the great subjects of his 
studies. He associates me with him also in his study 



ZEPHANIAH, HABAKKUK, JEREMIAH 97 

of the stars, and we spend many hours together on his 
house-top at night looking up into the clear heavens. 

Only two weeks ago a strange thing happened which 
for days filled my heart with dreadful foreboding but 
which has turned out to quicken my faith in our great 
God. Istaroch and the other wise-men of the Chal- 
deans were summoned to the presence of Nebuch- 
adnezzar and I attended upon him. When they had 
bowed themselves before the great king he said to them 
in stately language to this effect : "I have had a dream 
which troubles me, I have entirely forgotten what it 
was; so I have summoned you to tell me the dream 
and its interpretation." Then Istaroch answered, "If 
you will tell us the dream we will tell you its meaning, 
but it is too much to require of us to tell you the dream 
itself, the wisest of men cannot do that." Then the 
king grew angry and frowned upon the wise-men and 
dismissed them with the command: "Tell me the 
dream by tomorrow at this hour; if you fail I will 
command that you all be slain, your families ban- 
ished and your property confiscated." There was 
great excitement in the city that night for the wise- 
men were highly regarded, almost worshipped by the 
people. I was astounded at the self control of Istaroch; 
he had no word to say against the king, he seemed 
wilHng to die at his command without a sign of rebel- 
lion; and he spent the night in giving instruction to 
the eunuchs for the care of his family, and in making 
preparations for his death upon the morrow. When 
the morrow came and Istaroch and the wise-men were 
about to assemble to confess to the king their failure 
and to await the execution of his sentence, there came 



98 ORATORY AND POETRY 

a messenger from the king granting a delay of three 
days and saying this was upon the appeal of Daniel, 
one of the captives of Judah, who had assured the 
king that he would entreat his God to reveal the secret. 
The three days of waiting were days of intense excite- 
ment not only among the wise-men but in the whole 
city. The wise-men confessed their lives were entirely 
dependent upon the God of Daniel, that all their learn- 
ing was in vain and their own gods could not or would 
not help them. The citizens of the world-conquering 
city were equally bewildered ; they attributed their vic- 
tory over all other nations to their superior wisdom 
and power as displayed especially in their king and in 
his wise-men, and to the superior power and favor of 
their gods who had set the gods of all other nations 
at naught; and they had a special contempt for the 
God of captured Judah, the god of the hills they called 
him; and now the lives of their wise-men, whom they 
honored and worshipped, were entirely dependent 
upon this condemned and vanquished God. There was 
a strange commingling of hope and despair; the 
despair was heavy, dark, oppressive ; the hope was like 
a single beam of light trying to break through the 
darkness. Could it dispel the darkness? Would the 
god of the hills save the wise-men of Babylon? 

The suspense became intense, all other affairs and 
interests in the city were forgotten. Could the god of 
the hills, would he save the wise-men of Babylon? 
Could he, would he reveal to the great Nebuchadnez- 
zar his forgotten dream? 

On the third day Daniel* stood in the presence of 

* Daniel, the 2d chapter. 



ZEPHANIAH, HABAKKUK, JEREMIAH 99 

King Nebuchadnezzar, he told him that not because 
of his learning but only because of his appeal, the God 
of heaven had revealed to him the king's dream. With 
the most serene confidence he then described to the 
king his own dream v^hich he had entirely forgotten. 
He had dreamed of a great image whose head was of 
gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and thighs 
of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and 
part of clay. The king had then dreamed of a great 
stone cut without hands, differing from the hewn 
stones of the city of Babylon, this stone smote the 
image to powder so that the wind carried the powdered 
image away and the stone then became a great moun- 
tain and filled the whole earth. 

The king was astounded ! It was in every detail the 
very dream that had troubled him and which he had 
entirely forgotten. Daniel then told the king the 
meaning of the dream. The God of heaven had re- 
vealed to the king the succession of kingdoms he would 
set up in the earth : he had given to Nebuchadnezzar 
the present kingdom, he was the head of gold; then 
would follow a succession of baser kingdoms through 
long ages; at length the God of heaven would raise up 
a kingdom of strange and small beginnings which 
would sweep away all the remains of the other king- 
doms and would grow and flourish until it filled the 
whole earth, it would last forever, the kingdom of 
the God of heaven, the everlasting and universal king- 
dom of heaven in the earth. The God of heaven has 
revealed to thee, oh king, his wide and far-reaching 
plans. The effect was wonderful, never had such a 
thing been dreamed. The great King Nebuchadnezzar 



loo ORATORY AND POETRY 

fell down upon his face before Daniel and acknowl- 
edged with utmost and fearless frankness, "Of a truth 
your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings, the 
great revealer of secrets/' Then the king established 
Daniel in honor, wealth and vast authority and made 
him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and a 
member of the king's court. The wonderful scene soon 
became known through the whole city; the wise-men 
were saved; the king had acknowledged the God of 
Daniel as the God of gods, the God who had revealed 
the forgotten dream, who had revealed the long suc- 
cession of kingdoms to come, the Lord of kings who 
ruled in the w^hole earth, whose far-reaching plans 
covered the whole future. 

It is impossible to describe the bewildered feelings 
apparent in this capital city of the world's empire; 
their gods are seen to be powerless in a great emer- 
gency, our God is acknowledged as the great God over 
all. Still they are in the ascendancy, we are still cap- 
tives, but they treat us now with a growing considera- 
tion and respect. But their bewilderment is as nothing 
compared with ours. When the wonderful speech of 
Daniel became known we thought our captivity would 
at once end, but the days have passed with no sign of 
a change. The sun rises and the sun sets upon a race 
of captives and Babylon still triumphs over us. But, 
oh my beloved, I am slowly learning the lesson: our 
God is here as well as in Jerusalem, he is carrying out 
his far-reaching plans, though we cannot understand 
him thoroughly we can still trust him, he will care 
for you, he will care for me and for all those who 
trust him. Let us live in this faith. 



ZEPHANIAH, HABAKKUK, JEREMIAH loi 

The Princess Zehidah to Prince Azariah 

Strange things are happening in Jerusalem and to 
our greatest prophet, Jeremiah. You remember, be- 
loved, when you and I heard him make his great 
speech* in the temple-court, when he threatened the 
judgment of the righteous God against the temple 
itself because of the sins of the people? You remem- 
ber how he burst forth in his terrible denunciation : 
"Trust ye not in lying words ; the temple of the Lord 
the temple of the Lord, say ye, as if the temple could 
protect you ; ye steal and murder and commit adultery, 
ye swear falsely, ye have made the temple, my house, 
a den of robbers; wherefore amend your ways or I 
will do to this house, wherein ye trust, and to the 
place I gave unto you as I have done to Shiloh : I will 
cast you out of my sight." How proud I was of you, 
my husband, and of the other princes that day, for 
when the prophets and the priests and the mob of the 
people in their wrath clamored for Jeremiah and were 
about to kill him, you and the princes sprang to his 
rescue and, at the risk of your lives, persuaded the 
people that he was not worthy of death since he had 
spoken in the name of the Lord. That was a terrible 
scene and a fearful speech : for when a few days after- 
ward you and I rode our horses over Shiloh and saw 
the ruins of the city and that the whole country about 
it was desolate and without an inhabitant, we shud- 
dered to think that such would be the fate of Jeru- 
salem and of the splendid Temple of Solomon. 

Rumors of the strange things happening in Jeru- 
salem have already reached you, and rumors have 

♦ Jeremiah, 7-10, also 26th chapter. 



I02 ORATORY AND POETRY 

reached us that Nebuchadnezzar has gathered a great 
army and is marching toward us to subdue our rebel- 
lion. Zedekiah, the King of David's line, is awakening 
great enthusiasm among the people to cast off the 
dominion of Babylon, and many prophets are siding 
with him and promising him victory and the return 
of the captives. During the growth of this spirit in 
the past few years and now that it is flaming forth in 
open revolt, Jeremiah steadfastly opposes it and coun- 
sels submission and loyalty to Babylon. He urges the 
nation to strive to reform its evil ways rather than to 
struggle against outward foes. He says that our 
fathers prospered and were free because they did 
justice, they defended the poor and needy, that this 
is the way to know the Lord and to live in his favor ; 
and if the whole nation refuses this it will be destroyed, 
not only will Jerusalem be again captured but it will 
become desolate, without inhabitant; and he counsels 
all who love their country and are loyal to their God 
to live in righteousness with each other and in submis- 
sion to Babylon. He is a strong man and a brave one 
and very eloquent in speech and he embraces every 
hopeful opportunity to check the impetuous rush of 
the nation to its ruin. Often he speaks in the temple- 
courts and often he strives to reach and influence those 
masses of the people who rarely worship at the temple. 
A year or more ago he took a potter's earthen bottle 
and, gathering a great crowd of people at the gate 
Harsith in the Valley of Hinnom, he told the people 
that unless they reformed the Lord would destroy 
them beyond repair just as he cast the bottle upon the 
rocks and broke it into many pieces. This so enraged 



ZEPHANIAH, HABAKKUK, JEREMIAH 103 

the priest, Pashur, the chief officer of the temple, that 
he had Jeremiah arrested and put in stocks in the gate 
of the temple where he was subjected to suffering, in- 
sult and shame until he was released the following day. 

A short time after this Jeremiah made a heavy and 
cumbersome yoke and put it about his neck and, this 
drawing a multitude to hear him, he counseled them 
to submit to the yoke of Babylon. This so enraged 
Hananiah, who claimed to be a prophet of the Lord, 
that he prophesied that God would speedily break the 
yoke of Babylon, and he then rudely broke the yoke 
off of Jeremiah's neck. But nothing daunted, Jere- 
miah told Hananiah he was a false prophet and that 
God would make a yoke of iron that the people could 
not break off of their necks. Not only does Jeremiah 
thus faithfully counsel the people but when called 
before the king he is equally fearless ; only a few days 
ago Zedekiah, who had heard that Nebuchadnezzar 
was coming with a large army to war against us, called 
Jeremiah to reveal to him the will of the Lord. The 
brave prophet told the king the message of the Lord : 
"I myself will fight against you with an outstretched 
hand and a strong arm, in anger and in fury and in 
great wrath ; I will deliver Zedekiah, his servants and 
the people into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. Oh 
king, execute judgment in the morning and righteous- 
ness in the evening and deliver the spoiled from his 
oppressor or my fury will bum like fire because of the 
evil of your doings." 

It was only yesterday that I heard Jeremiah make 
a great speech in the temple court at the close of the 
evening sacrifice; and from his great solemnity and 



I04 ORATORY AND POETRY 

earnestness as well as from the burden of the speech 
itself, it was quite evident that he thought it would 
be his last message to the people; he spoke faithfully 
and bravely the message of God which he expected 
would rouse the people to kill him.* There was an 
inspiring manifestation of God's power at the close 
of the speech which subdued the people and saved 
Jeremiah from the explosion of their wrath. The 
speech seemed to be a summing up of all the messages 
he had so frequently urged upon the people as well 
as in line with the messages of the prophets of God in 
former days. He told them plainly that they fre- 
quently worshipped other gods, that even the outward 
acts of their worship of the true God were all in vain, 
that the law of God must be written upon their hearts, 
that each one could serve God only by trusting him 
and giving him sincere and hearty obedience. He 
urged them, "Return ye now every one from his evil 
way and from the evil of his doings'' and he promised 
that they should dwell in the land in peace. But he 
said, "Ye have not hearkened unto the message of God 
but ye provoke him to anger with the work of your 
hands to your own hurt." 

Then Jeremiah did in the court of the temple what 
he had frequently done in his addresses to the people 
in the streets of the city : he acted out in a significant 
way what God would do to all the workers of iniquity 
of whatever nation, what he would do to Babylon 
itself after the seventy years of our captivity were 
over. Oh what a long time that is, shall I never see 
your dear face again, my beloved? Jeremiah took a 

* Jeremiah, 25th chapter. 



ZEPHANIAH, HABAKKUK, JEREMIAH 105 

cup of red wine in his hand and lifting it up before 
the eyes of the people he said, "This is the cup of the 
Lord's fury, of the fury of his wrath against all 
iniquity." He then in the most dramatic way called 
upon the different nations to drink of this cup saying 
it would make them a desolation, an astonishment, a 
hissing and a curse, it would make them drunken, they 
would reel to and fro and fall and rise no more on 
account of their iniquity. 

He was so intense and vivid in his eloquence, calling 
up the nations our neighbors and our own nation, that 
we could fairly see them standing before us. He then 
represented the nations as refusing to drink the cup 
of the Lord's fury, and he urged them. He said, 
"Thus saith the Lord, ye shall surely drink." Now 
a strange thing occurred. During the latter part of 
the afternoon there had been gathering over the great 
sea and advancing on the land, a great cloud; as it 
drew nearer the lightning flashed and we heard the 
muttering of the thunder. But it advanced slowly and 
seemed to be passing off to the north. The great 
choir had chosen as the last song of the evening wor- 
ship the Song of the Thunder Storm* with its seven 
majestic voices, closing with the word of praise and 
peace, "Everything in his temple saith glory, the Lord 
will bless his people with peace." While Jeremiah was 
speaking the black clouds seemed returning from the 
north, and as he urged the nations to drink the cup 
of the Lord's fury the lightning flashed and the thun- 
der sounded fiercely. Jeremiah with his quick skill as 
an orator represented the thunder as the voice of God. 

* Psalm 29i» 



io6 ORATORY AND POETRY 

"The Lord roars from on high, he utters his voice 
from his holy habitation, he shall mightily roar against 
his own nation, he shall give a shout." We could 
almost hear the words spoken to us : "Ye shall surely 
drink the cup of wrath." Jeremiah quickly brought 
his message to a close; turning to the princes by the 
King's Pillar he said, "The days of your slaughter are 
fully come." Then we all turned and quickly went to 
our homes as if pursued by the lightning and the thun- 
der of the Lord's wrath. 

I do not know when I shall be able to write to you 
again, my beloved, I am sending this by a trusted mes- 
senger by way of Damascus. This morning the news 
reached us that Nebuchadnezzar had reached and 
passed through Tyre with his great army; in a few 
days now we will see the spears flashing in the sun 
light on the hilltops, and the city will be besieged. May 
our great Lord have you in his faithful keeping, and 
you may trust me and your children to his loving 
care. 

SUPPLEMENT TO CHAPTER VI 

The Book of Jeremiah 

Arrangement in the hook of the speeches of Jeremiah 

Part I. Josiah reigns, is conducting the reformation 
of the nation but it is largely superficial. 
About 621 B. C. Jeremiah calls for 
reformation of the life. 

Chapter i. Commission or call of the prophet. 

Chapters 2-6. Temple Speech describes judgment 
and terror. In fifth chapter describes that it is not 
only the lowly but the great men who make their faces 



ZEPHANIAH, HABAKKUK, JEREMIAH 107 

harder than a rock, who refuse to return, therefore 
terror shall come upon all. 

Part II. Jehoiakim reigns, about 605 B. C. Nebu- 
chadnezzar has conquered Assyria and 
Egypt and made Judah tributary, Baby- 
lon now rules the world. 

Chapters 7: 10. Shiloh Speech, effect described in 
chapter twenty-six, see letter of the Princess Zebidah. 

Chapters 11-13. Temple Speech culminating in the 
symbol of the linen girdle spoiled and worthless. 

Chapters 14-17. Temple Speech, the cry of Jeru- 
salem, a dramatic speech in which the people are 
represented crying unto the Lord and the Lord answers 
them. 

Chapters 18-20. Street Speech, the potter's bottle, 
see the letter of the Princess Zebidah. 

Part IIL Zedekiah reigns, about 589 B. C. Jehoiakim 
rebelled and was killed. Jehoiachin was 
carried to Babylon with 10,000 captives. 
Zedekiah contemplates rebellion to cast 
off the yoke of Babylon. 

Chapters 21-23. Temple Speech in presence of king 
and the court, counsels submission, declares the Lord 
will fight against them, strong denunciation of social 
wrongs and of the teachers of the people. 

Chapter 24. Temple Speech, the cup of the Lord's 
fury, see letter of the Princess Zebidah. 

Chapter 26. Effect of the Shiloh speech, chapters 
7-10. 

Chapters 27, 28. Street Speech, symbol of the 
yokes from former speech repeated, and the results. 

Chapter 29. A letter to the captives in Babylon. 

Chapters 30-33. The speeches have been largely 
denunciations of corruption and exhortations to sub- 
mit to punishment. Jeremiah has been thrown into 



io8 ORATORY AND POETRY 

prison, he now writes from the prison a letter largely 
of consolation to the righteous and shows his faith in 
God by buying a field and preserving the deed. There 
will be prosperity after the captivity. 

Chapters 34-38. History before the destruction of 
Jerusalem. The heartless reformation, freeing the 
slaves, the siege of Jerusalem is raised; reslaving their 
brothers, the siege is renewed. See letter of Princess 
Zebidah in Chapter VII. Sketches of various speeches. 

Chapters 39-44. History after the destruction of 
Jerusalem. 

Chapters 46-52. Prophecies against heathen na- 
tions, probably extracts from speeches to the people 
of Judah showing God as ruling the nations right- 
eously, to quicken their faith in him during their own 
sufferings, and to call for righteous living. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE STORY OF TWO ORATIONS TO THE 
CAPTIVES IN BABYLON, BY EZEKIEL 

A Letter from the Captive Prince Azariah to 
His Wife^ Princess Zebidah, in Jerusalem 

My life still flows on in peace and luxury. Istaroch, 
the prince of the wise-men treats me more as a friend 
than as a captive; I have charge of his large library 
and he makes me his companion in his studies. He 
seems to be specially grateful to me as worshipping the 
God who through Daniel saved the lives of the wise- 
men as I wrote you several years ago. I wrote you 
also more recently of the brave stand made by the 
three young men, princes, companions of Daniel in the 
court of Nebuchadnezzar, when they refused to wor- 
ship the great image of gold that the king had had 
set up on the plain north of the city, and how they 
had been delivered from the fiery furnace into which 
they had been cast, and how the king had frankly and 
publicly acknowledged the deliverance could only have 
been wrought by the God of the captives. 

The Babylonians while brave warriors are also 
generous masters, they admire bravery in others and 
are considerate in their treatment of such captives; 
besides, the stupendous power of our God which they 
witnessed in saving their own wise-men and in saving 
these his own loyal worshippers, has made a great 

109 



no ORATORY AND POETRY 

impression upon them. There must be over a thousand 
of our captives in the city, some are in the palaces of 
the rich, many whose v^ives have been brought with 
them have homes of their own, all are engaged in 
useful employments, in beautifying the magnificent 
city, in strengthening its walls, and in business of 
various kinds. We would hardly know we were cap- 
tives, would imagine we were voluntary colonists, only 
that those who have sought to get away have been 
turned back with some severity. We are free to pass 
about in the city and we even have the privilege of 
assembling together in social enjoyment and in the 
worship of our God. At one of these assemblies when 
I was present on a Sabbath several weeks ago, a 
strange message came to us, from one who had heard 
him speak, that there was a prophet of God among 
the captives settled some two hundred miles north of 
the city. There was at once awakened in us a great 
desire to hear what God had revealed to him con- 
cerning our future and the future of Jerusalem. Dur- 
ing the next few days it was arranged that at least 
twenty representative men should appeal for permis- 
sion to visit this prophet. I was among those chosen 
and I secured the influence of Daniel, the Governor 
of the Province, who gained from Nebuchadnezzar the 
permission we desired, as he is ever ready to grant 
reasonable favors to those who worship the God who 
had revealed to him in his strange dream that he 
would establish him as the ruler of the kingdoms of 
the earth. 

We sailed up the Euphrates on one of the many 
vessels that ply upon the great river, a fair and com- 



EZEKIEL III 

modious ship, and the voyage was pleasant. The 
vessel had two large sails and fifty oars, the oars were 
kept going during the daylight by able-bodied slaves, 
even when there was no favoring wind we made some 
progress against the heavy though sluggish current; 
but when, as was often the case, a strong wind blew 
from the south, with both oars and sails we passed 
many miles quite rapidly. We landed at several flour- 
ishing towns on the way, leaving some passengers 
and receiving others; among those joining us were 
several delegations of our fellow-captives from various 
colonies on the same mission with us to consult the 
prophet of God, and they told us they had heard of 
the wonderful visions he had and of the vivid way he 
used, by significant acts, to reveal the purposes of 
God, so our eagerness to see and hear him was greatly 
quickened. 

On the fifth day we reached the mouth of the river 
Chebar, here we saw one of the vast works of King 
Nebuchadnezzar for the improvement of his kingdom. 
The river flows from the high table-land and the 
great mountains several hundred miles away but as 
it nears the Euphrates it becomes sluggish and winds 
about a great deal, mostly to the north, and it becomes 
quite wide and too shallow for such large vessels as 
ours to sail upon it. So Nebuchadnezzar has cut a 
canal some ten miles long straight from the Euphrates 
to the place where the Chebar is narrow and deep 
where large gates open for the vessels to pass into the 
river and close again to keep the river from rushing 
into the canal. At this entrance into the Chebar there 
is a flourishing town, largely composed of a colony 



112 ORATORY AND POETRY 

of our captives who are engaged in keeping the canal 
in good condition; and here our voyage ended, for 
among these captives was the prophet, Ezekiel^ whom 
we sought. We were very fortunate to reach there 
at about the same time as several delegations from 
colonies of captives further up the river so there must 
have been over a hundred men, elders and leaders of 
our people, who appealed to Ezekiel to give them a 
message from the Lord, our God. He responded that 
he would pray unto the Lord and if he had any mes- 
sage from him, he would speak to us at the place of 
assembly early the next morning. 

When the morning came, many of his own colony 
gathered with the delegates to wait upon Ezekiel. 
When he came out of his house it was quite evident 
to us all, from his rapt gaze, that he had had a vision 
of the Lord; and when he spoke to us, the tones of 
his voice expressed the awe of his soul and fore- 
warned us that the message he bore was one of deep 
distress. He described the strange vision in which 
God appeared to him,^ a vision full of colossal figures 
and vast power and great mystery: whirling wheels 
and strange creatures upholding a vast platform and 
moving rapidly, upon this platform was a great throne 
carried along by the wheels and the creatures, and 
upon the throne, a man of most majestic mien; the 
whole vision shone with brightness of the color of 
amber, the man on the throne had the appearance of 
fire. This vision of God came to Ezekiel and put 
forth a hand and lifted him up and carried him, in an 
instant of time, to far-off Jerusalem and placed him 

* Ezekiel, 8th, 9th, loth, and nth chapters. 



EZEKIEL 113 

in the court of the temple. The vision of God now 
took possession of the Holy of Holies of the temple, 
filling it with such wonderful light that it made its 
walls luminous to those who gazed upon them; and 
from this place a voice directed Ezekiel to observe 
the temple in its various parts and the doings of the 
priests and the worshippers. Looking toward the 
northern court Ezekiel saw there the great image of 
the goddess of sensual beauty and passion and its 
worshippers bowing down before it; coming into the 
temple itself, he saw many chambers filled with the 
images of creeping things and abominable beasts, and 
the leaders of the people worshipping and burning 
incense to them; coming again into the court of the 
temple, he saw even the women of the city worshipping 
the image of the god of lust; looking now toward the 
east, he saw many men standing with their backs to 
the temple and stretching out their hands in worship of 
the sun and the queen of heaven: all these varied 
worshippers of idols were saying in their hearts ''The 
Lord hath forsaken the earth, the Lord seeth us not." 
They had filled the land with violence and so turned 
to worship abominations and to turn up the nose in 
scorn at their righteous Lord who had forsaken the 
earth. 

The Lord now described to Ezekiel how he would 
set a mark upon the foreheads of those who were his 
faithful followers and who mourned over the abomina- 
tions prevailing in life and worship; and how, when 
the sentence of death and destruction was being car- 
ried out, these faithful ones would be saved alive; 
and how the Lord would select also from the children 



114 ORATORY AND POETRY 

of the captivity his faithful ones and "these all shall 
be my people and I will be their God." In the most 
vivid and thrilling way Ezekiel now described to us 
what had filled him with awe and great distress and 
it showed us as it had showed him that Jerusalem 
would be utterly destroyed and left desolate. While 
Ezekiel gazed upon the Holy of Holies, made luminous 
by the presence of the Lord in the wonderful vision 
of the whirling wheels and the strange creatures bear- 
ing up the great throne and the man of fire who sat 
upon it, this wonderful vision left the Holy of Holies 
and stood over its threshold and the deserted Holy of 
Holies became dark. A long time elapsed as Ezekiel 
followed the directions given him and saw the great 
abominations polluting the temple. Now as he looked 
again, the vision of the glory of God rose above the 
temple and slowly and reluctantly left the temple itself 
and stood over its eastern threshold; and the deserted 
temple became dark. A long time elapsed as Ezekiel 
heard the messages of stern justice and loving mercy, 
dooming the city and its wicked people to destruction 
and promising safety and blessing to the faithful 
people of the Lord. Now as Ezekiel gazed upon the 
wonderful vision of the glory of God, it slowly and 
reluctantly left the temple and even the city itself and 
stood over the eastern threshold or gate of the city. 
Ezekiel fell on his face and cried unto the Lord to 
spare the residue of the people in pouring out his fury 
upon Jerusalem. The Lord answered him ''The in- 
iquity of the people is great, the land is full of blood, 
the city is full of perverseness ; they say the Lord 
seeth not, the Lord hath forsaken the earth; I will 



EZEKIEL 115 

bring their saying upon their head: I cannot endure 
their perverseness, I will leave them to themselves/' 
Again Ezekiel gazed upon the wonderful vision; the 
strange creatures lifted up their wings, the whirling 
wheels passed on their way, and the glory of the 
Lord slowly, as if with the greatest reluctance, left 
the city and stood upon the mountain which is on the 
east side of the city. But it did not tarry there long, 
for as he gazed, the mysterious hand reached out again 
and caught up Ezekiel and brought him back in an 
instant of time to his home among the captives in 
Chaldea; and then the vision itself went up from him. 

This was the strange and awful message Ezekiel 
gave us from the Lord. The Lord has left his temple, 
has left his city, has left his land; and destruction, 
the most terrible and complete, awaits those he has 
deserted to their fate. Oh, my beloved, I know you 
and our children are safe, for I know that you have 
upon your foreheads and in your hearts the marks 
God sees of loyalty to him and so you are under his 
loving, protecting care. You may be assured also that 
the Lord will care for me in this far-off land of my 
captivity, for I too, with many others here, turn with 
loathing from the corrupting worship of false gods 
and with my whole heart I cleave to our righteous 
Lord. 

The next day the various delegations returned to 
their homes to report to their fellow-captives the 
message Ezekiel had given them from the Lord. Our 
sail down the great river, while swift was very de- 
pressing; all the stir of the river-life, the many vessels 
of pleasure with music and dancing, the many great 



ii6 ORATORY AND POETRY 

vessels of rich merchandise and eager travellers, the 
many large towns and cities we passed could not 
draw our thoughts away from the sad message we were 
bearing to our fellow-captives : that our captivity must 
continue a long time and that our beloved city, fair 
Jerusalem, beautiful for situation among the moun- 
tains, and the great Temple of Solomon, the pride 
of our nation, the palace of our God, were doomed 
to awful destruction. 

When we made our report to the assembly of our 
captives in Babylon, the great oration of Ezekiel had 
the same efifect upon them that it had had upon us. 
The mysterious vision of the glory of God, the great 
corruption found even in the temple itself, the denun- 
ciation of impending ruin, the slow, the reluctant, the 
final and complete removal of God from his temple, 
his city and his land, leaving it to its terrible destruc- 
tion, filled all souls with dismay. While many cried 
aloud in their agony and tore their garments in their 
distress, for the most part of the people their dis- 
appointment and despair were too deep for utterance. 
Our captivity has already stretched along for many, 
many years but we had thought it would soon end and 
we would be restored to our own land ; Jerusalem still 
flourished, the glorious temple still existed, God would 
preserve them and restore us to them. But now the 
message from God told us they would soon be de- 
stroyed. Our hopes were all shattered, we would 
never see our native land again. 

This morning I waited upon Daniel in his palace 
and told him the result of our visit to the prophet, 
Ezekiel; he, too, was greatly depressed by it, for it 



EZEKIEL 117 

confirmed him in his fears ; he, too, had hoped against 
fear for the speedy restoration from captivity. Daniel 
then told me that news had reached them that Zedekiah 
had rebelled against Babylon. He said also that 
Nebuchadnezzar had ordered the gathering of a great 
army near Tyre and that he was making preparations 
to lead it himself, to lay siege to Jerusalem. He is 
very rapid and decided in carrying out his plans when 
once made, but I hope this letter, by my special mes- 
senger, will reach you before the beginning of the 
siege that the great king has decreed. 

Letter from the Princess Zebidah to Her 

Husband, Prince Azariah, a Captive 

IN Babylon 

Oh, my beloved, shall I ever see you again? The 
terrible blow has fallen. The land is desolate, Jeru- 
salem has been captured and destroyed. The temple 
of our God has been burned with fire. I entreated to 
be taken with the multitude of captives to Babylon, 
hoping I might meet you there but I and all my family 
were of the party of Jeremiah and we must share his 
fate. How strange it is that our loyalty to God and 
his prophet, and Nebuchadnezzar's favor to Jeremiah 
should have brought this further distress upon us! 
You must trust me, oh my beloved, though it is hard 
to explain even to myself, how I with your brave boys, 
should at this moment be flying into Egypt w^hen if I 
could have had my way we would be coming toward 
you in Babylon. What will you think of me should 
you never receive this letter : but God will bring it to 
you I am sure. 



ii8 ORATORY AND POETRY 

The siege was long, nearly three years, for our king 
fought bravely and skilfully against the great army 
of Nebuchadnezzar. Toward the last there was great 
distress in the city, for food and even w^ater became 
very scarce ; and nearly every family was either mourn- 
ing some brave soldier killed in battle or nursing a 
wounded member nigh unto death. During most of 
this time Jeremiah was in prison. Once when he was 
released for a few weeks, he made a great speech in 
the temple-court and a few days after it Nebuchad- 
nezzar and his army raised the siege and marched 
away; and it seemed as if all danger was passed. 
Jeremiah's speech* was a rebuke to the princes and the 
rich people for having treated their poor brethren as 
slaves ; he asked, how can you expect God to help you 
against your enemies when you are in the very act 
of disobeying him who commanded you to love your 
brother as yourself and to be especially kind to those 
in greatest need? It is for this one reason at least, 
because you are cruel and oppress your brethren in 
hard slavery, that God has brought this distress upon 
you. The plea was so strong that it reached the con- 
science : the next day the edict went forth that all the 
slaves should go free, and it was gladly obeyed, and 
there was much joy in the city both among the rich 
and the poor. That very day we noticed an unusual 
stir in the camps of the army surrounding the city; 
we expected a renewed assault and with renewed 
courage prepared to resist it. But to our wonder, 
Nebuchadnezzar and his whole army marched away 
to the west. We sent scouts after them who, in a 

•Jeremiah 34th chapter. 



EZEKIEL 119 

few days came back with the report that, reaching the 
plain by the great sea, they had turned to the south 
and passed entirely beyond our borders. What joy 
filled the city! The Lord had delivered us, and our 
fierce and powerful enemy had vanished away. Soon 
vast supplies came into the city from the north and 
from the east and prosperity began to fill our homes 
and streets and our hardships and fears were quickly 
forgotten. Now also the princes and rich people began 
again to treat as slaves their poor brethren who as 
hired servants ministered to them in their palaces; 
and after a few weeks an edict was made by the king 
revoking the former edict and sanctioning and re- 
establishing slavery. 

Then Jeremiah made another speech in the temple- 
court indignantly denouncing the renewed sin: "Ye 
have profaned my name, saith the Lord, ye have not 
hearkened unto me to proclaim liberty every man to 
his brother ; behold, now, I proclaim unto you a liberty 
to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. 
Behold Zedekiah and ye princes and all ye people, I 
will call again the king of Babylon and his army to 
return to this city, and they shall fight against it and 
take it and burn it with fire and I will make the cities 
of Judah a desolation without inhabitant." When we 
awoke the next morning the van of Babylon's army 
was seen upon the hills toward the sea and soon the 
great army surrounded the city again, the siege was 
renewed in all its vigor. We soon learned that Nebu- 
chadnezzar had heard that Egypt was advancing to 
aid us, and he had met them and dri\'en them back: 
so quickly our hollow-hearted repentance and our reli- 



I20 ORATORY AND POETRY 

ance upon our heathen ally were proved utterly vain, 
as our prophet had frequently declared. 

Many in their aroused anger wanted to kill Jere- 
miah, but his life was preserved, though he was put 
back into prison. From his prison he sent many 
messages counseling submission to Babylon. Once he 
was brought, by order of Zedekiah into his presence, 
when he exhorted the king to cease his rebellion and 
promised him the Lord would save his life and his 
throne: while if he continued the war all would be 
lost. From the prison he also sent many messages of 
great cheer to the loyal servants of God, that he 
would spare them, that he would eventually bring 
back the captivity, that Jerusalem would then be called 
the habitation of justice, the mountain of holiness, 
that God would write his law in the hearts of his 
people and great proseprity would prevail. He showed 
his own faith in this glorious future by buying a farm 
near the city at a great price and having the deed 
preserved in a stone vessel and hid in a secure place 
that his descendants might enjoy the farm after the 
troublous times were past. 

So the weary, heavy days of the siege passed on, all 
hope of relief from Egypt failed, our own forces 
became weak and discouraged, famine and pestilence 
filled us with despair. Then came the end; the walls 
were broken down and the fierce soldiers entered the 
city. Zedekiah and his army fled but were captured 
and brought back and treated with great cruelty. We 
were in the hands of our foes who were enraged at 
our stubborn resistance, and they visited their ven- 
geance in the destruction of the city. The temple 



EZEKIEL 121 

of our God was despoiled of all its treasures and was 
burned with fire. 

But Jeremiah and those who were of his party were 
treated with much favor. Nebuchadnezzar believed 
our God had made him king of the whole earth ac- 
cording to the dream Daniel had revealed to him, as 
you wrote me a few years ago ; and he had heard that 
Jeremiah was the prophet of God who had counseled 
submission to Babylon. So he selected from the party 
of Jeremiah my father's brother, Gedaliah, and made 
him the governor of the land. He offered Jeremiah 
and his friends freedom under the rule of Babylon 
and that they could choose where they would live, 
here or anywhere in the kingdom or even in Babylon 
itself. Then I plead with my uncle, the governor 
and with Jeremiah that I, at least, with your boys, 
might go with the captives, but in vain; Jeremiah 
decided to remain in Judah and was unwilling to risk 
our welfare in the long journey with the depressed 
captives and their cruel and enraged captors. So we 
remained at Mizpah, and my heart failed me as I saw 
the long line of captives and their fierce masters set 
out on their weary and dangerous journey to Babylon. 

For a while all went well at Mizpah. Then certain 
princes who had lived, during the war, in Ammon and 
Moab and who had been welcomed upon their return 
by Gedaliah, the Governor, slew him thinking to rule 
in his place. They were soon overthrown and driven 
back to Ammon. But now most of our leaders were 
seized with fear that Babylon would count them re- 
sponsible for the murder of the governor and for the 
disorder, and in their panic they made ready to fly 



122 ORATORY AND POETRY 

into Egypt. They consulted Jeremiah who strongly 
advised against it, but in vain. So we are now on our 
flight into Egypt and Jeremiah is with us. Oh, my 
beloved, would that I could have gone with the cap- 
tives to Babylon, I might have reached that city, I 
might have met you, at any rate been in the same city 
with you. What will befall us in Egypt who can tell? 
Jeremiah is with us and he is the prophet of our God. 
He says Nebuchadnezzar will attack and conquer 
Egypt ; perhaps when he raises his army he may bring 
you with him, then we may be united again in Egypt. 
But whether we ever meet again or no, we are both 
under the care of the God whom we adore. He 
knows his name is on our foreheads as Ezekiel says 
and he will preserve us as he has done so far through 
all these troubles. 

Letter from the Captive^ Prince Azariah, to 

His Wife, the Princess Zebidah, a 

Fugitive in Egypt 

My heart has been filled wath the greatest anxiety 
for you, oh my beloved, day and night since we heard 
of the destruction of Jerusalem. But I am not in 
despair for I rely upon the promise given us from 
God by Ezekiel that he would place his name upon 
the foreheads of his devoted followers and would 
save them when Jerusalem should be destroyed, and 
I know you and the boys are loyal to God. You can 
only faintly imagine the despair that fell upon the 
captives in Babylon when the messenger from the 
king published through the city that Jerusalem had 
not only been captured but entirely destroyed and 



EZEKIEL 123 

that Solomon's Temple had been burned to the ground. 
Many of us have been captives for over eleven long 
weary years; during all these years we have known 
that Jerusalem still existed and that the temple- wor- 
ship of our great God was being observed; God, too, 
had revealed his presence and power here, both to 
the Babylonians and to us, in marvelous ways through 
Daniel and his companions. It was natural for us to 
hope that God would soon bring us back to our home- 
land and that then our hard exile would be only a 
hideous memory. 

True, Ezekiel's great oration, of which I wrote you, 
warned us that God had left our city and land to its 
destruction, but we could hardly believe it possible. 
We knew that Nebuchadnezzar was again besieging the 
city, but we had learned to admire him for his vast 
ability, his great statesmanship and his sense of right- 
eousness. Had not our God greatly favored him? 
Had he not frankly acknowledged our God's existence? 
And we thought he would probably capture the city 
and restore his government over it but we never 
dreamed he would utterly destroy it. 

In a few months after this news, the first detach- 
ment of the victorious army returned to Babylon and 
brought many captives. What was my surprise to dis- 
cover my brother Shealtiel among these captives. I 
soon learned to what part of the city he had been 
assigned and, as I was free to go wherever I chose, 
I soon visited him ; and through Daniel I have secured 
him a better situation. He told me of the great hard- 
ships he had endured in the long march and that 
many captives had fallen by the way. He told me also 



124 ORATORY AND POETRY 

that your uncle Gedaliah had been made governor of 
Judea and that you and the boys were with him at 
Mizpah, so my anxiety for you has been greatly 
relieved. 

Recently our hopes have been revived by another 
message from God by his prophet Ezekiel and I 
hasten to write to you that you and the people with 
you may take new courage and be of good cheer in 
your desolate land. Our captives here in Babylon 
soon thought, in the depths of their despair, of send- 
ing another delegation to consult Ezekiel, perhaps 
God would give us some direction of present duty 
through him; I was a member of this delegation as of 
the first ; and again I succeeded, through the influence 
of Daniel, in gaining permission for the long journey. 
Again we sailed up the great river Euphrates and 
through the great canal of Nebuchadnezzar to Chebar, 
this time with heavier hearts than on our first voyage 
but with stronger faith in the prophet, for had he not 
then foretold to us the great disaster which had now 
cast its heavy burden of despair upon us? 

We found that Ezekiel had become a great man 
in Chebar during the past three years, he was the 
chief man in the care of the canal and in the develop- 
ment of the low lands through which the river wound 
to pour its waters into the Euphrates, and his skill 
had now won him honor and wealth. Upon his ap- 
pointment we, and the delegates from other colonies 
of captives, and many of his neighbors, gathered at 
his residence in the early morning. There were nearly 
five hundred men seated on the grass when Ezekiel 
came out of his door, we rose to receive him and he, 



EZEKIEL 125 

standing on his porch, gave us the message God had 
given him. There was the rapture of joy in his eyes 
and upon his face which awakened hope in us before 
he spoke, and then his rich and far-carrying voice 
thrilled us w^ith its tone of triumph, his action too 
was vigorous and enthusiastic: it did not seem like a 
captive addressing a band of captives, rather like a 
victorious general proclaiming his purpose of con- 
quest to his brave army. His great oration"^ conveyed 
his hopes and feelings, his wonderful faith and purpose 
to our souls and has become a part of our nature, 
written on our memory and treasured in our hearts. 

God's glory still appeared to Ezekiel in the mys- 
terious vision of whirling w^heels and strange creatures 
carrying a flaming platform and a glowing throne 
upon which was seated a man of flashing fire. 

God had so manifested his presence in his land that 
there had been a great shaking in the land : the fishes 
of the sea, the fowls of the heavens, the beasts of the 
field, all creeping things, and all the men on the face 
of the earth had been shaken by his presence; the 
mountains and the steep places had been thrown down 
and every wall had fallen to the ground before the 
glorious presence of the righteous God judging the 
people. So he pictured to us how God had shaken 
out of his land not only his own faithless and dis- 
obedient people but their enemies as well, whom he 
had brought in to be his chastising rod and who, 
having accomplished his purpose, had now themselves 
been shaken out of the land. But Ezekiel spoke not 
only of judgment but, with a great note of triumph 

* Ezekiel, chapters 36-43. 



126 ORATORY AND POETRY 

in his voice, he described God as speaking from his 
glory to the mountains of Israel. ^*Ye have borne 
shame but now, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot 
forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people 
Israel; for they are at hand to come. I will turn 
unto you and ye shall be tilled and sown. I will 
multiply men upon you even the house of Israel, the 
cities shall be inhabited, the waste places shall be 
builded; and they shall say: this land that was deso- 
late is become like the garden of Eden and the waste 
and desolate and ruined cities are fenced and in- 
habited; and they shall know that I, the Lord, have 
builded the ruined places. I, the Lord, have spoken 
it and I will do it." 

If this had been the whole of Ezekiel's great oration 
it would have thrilled us with hope for some far, 
future day and, perhaps, for our own children but 
would have given us, poor captives, little hope for 
ourselves, for we were hopelessly in the power of our 
conquerors. But in one part of his speech Ezekiel 
described our condition as one of despair to us but 
not of despair to our all-powerful God. The mys- 
terious vision, the glorious power of God, put forth a 
hand and placed Ezekiel in a great valley, and behold, 
it was full of very dry bones. Then God spake 
through Ezekiel '*0 ye dry bones, hear the word of the 
Lord and live," and there was a noise like an earth- 
quake and the bones came together, bone to his bone, 
and there were sinews upon them and flesh and skin, 
but there was no breath in them. Then God spake 
through Ezekiel ''Come from the four winds, O breath 
and breathe upon these slain that they may live" and 



EZEKIEL 127 

the breath came into them and they Hved and stood 
up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. So, 
said Ezekiel, God will bring you out of your captivity 
and will bring you into the land of Israel: "And ye 
shall know that I am the Lord." 

But even this glowing promise was not the best 
of Ezekiel's message from God, there was the promise 
of loyal character of the restored people and of a 
noble king to rule over and care for them. God said 
of the people "I will cleanse you from all your iniquity 
and from your idols, a new heart will I give you and 
a new spirit will I put within you, I will put my spirit 
within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and 
keep my judgments. Ye shall be my people and I 
will be your God." He spoke also of the new king. 
God had said that the kings who had ruled had not 
been true shepherds of the people, had not watched 
over them and guarded them, had not had their inter- 
ests at heart, but had sought their own ease and 
pleasure. But now God said he would set one to be 
a real shepherd over them "even my servant David, 
a prince among them, he shall feed them, my servant 
David shall be a king over them, he shall be their 
prince forever, and I will make an everlasting covenant 
of peace with them; I, the Lord, have spoken it: I 
will do it. And all the nations shall know that I am 
the Lord, the Holy One in Israel, for I have poured 
out my spirit upon the house of Israel.'' He closed 
his great oration by describing his vision of the glory 
of the Lord returning to his land and city and by the 
north gate into a new Temple, and it filled the house 
of the Lord. 



128 ORATORY AND POETRY 

When Ezekiel ceased speaking we all with one 
accord fell upon our knees and prostrated ourselves 
before God and worshipped him who had spoken to 
us such glorious promises through his prophet. 

Our return voyage was far different in spirit from 
the first : then we had gone to the prophet with great 
hope and had returned in heavy spirits, this time we 
had gone to him in deep despair but we returned in 
a joyous spirit. As we passed the vessels of pleasure 
upon the river, with their songs and dancing, we 
were singing our songs of praise. As we passed the 
fair cities and the prosperous country, we could admire 
it all while we thought of our fairer land, a land of 
mountains and hills, fruitful, beautiful, prosperous, 
as God had promised us. 

When we reached Babylon our report of Ezekiel's 
message gave great joy to our people. But also there 
had come, during our absence, news that filled our 
hearts with dismay and gave to me renewed anxiety 
concerning you, my beloved. We heard that the new 
governor, your uncle Gedaliah, had been killed in 
Mizpah and that the princes of his court, and Jere- 
miah with them, had fled into Egypt. I suppose you 
and the bo3^s are with them in a wild flight to the 
land of our former slavery. I have just heard, through 
Daniel, that Nebuchadnezzar has resolved to raise a 
large army and march to the conquest of Egypt; he 
also says that Istaroch, the wise-man, has been ordered 
to accompany Nebuchadnezzar into Egypt. Of course 
he will take me with him and so, my beloved, we may 
meet again. Should we meet, even in Egypt, I am 
sure we will never be separated again. 



EZEKIEL 129 

SUPPLEMENT TO CHAPTER VII 

Book of Ezekiel 

Arrangement in the hook of the speeches of Ezekiel 

Part I. Before the destruction of the Temple, about 
595 B. C. Ezekiel was taken to Babylon 
with the 10,000 captives and King Jehoi- 
achin. While King Zedekiah reigned in 
Jerusalem and the Temple stood the cap- 
tives in Babylon hoped to return. The 
speeches of Ezekiel were all made in 
Babylon to delegations sent to ask him 
about this return. 

Chapters 1-3. The call of the prophet. The great 
vision of the glory of God gives him his commission. 
From this his reputation spreads to the various colonies 
of captives. 

Chapters 4-7. The destruction of Jerusalem de- 
scribed by symbolical acts. 

Chapters 8-13. The vision of the glory of God 
leaving the Temple and the land. See the letter of 
Prince Azariah. 

Chapters 14-20. Great sinfulness described and en- 
forced by parables of the vine, the harlot, the eagle, 
and the lioness and her whelps. 

Chapters 20-23. The time of the destruction of 
Jerusalem is near, the corruption is great, demanding 
it; the parable of the two harlots illustrates it. 

Chapter 24. The destruction of the Temple and 
the city is at hand. The parable of the caldron. Tlic 
prophet under great affliction restrains his feelings, a 
symbolic example to the people. There is a year of 
silence between each speech and now for several years 
Ezekiel is dumb, has no message. 



I30 ORATORY AND POETRY 

Part IL Chapters 25-33. Prophecies against heathen 
nations who had rejoiced in the distress 
of Jerusalem, extracts from former 
speeches. To be specially noted, the de- 
scription of Tyre as a ship, 27th chapter, 
and of Egypt as a dragon of the river, 
29th chapter. 

Part III. Chapters 3-35. News of the destruction of 
the Temple unseals the lips of Ezekiel. 
The blessings upon repentance. The 
Lord, the shepherd of his people, to 
rescue the righteous. 

Chapters 36-43. The land blessed, the people re- 
stored, the vision of the Lord returning to his land 
and the Temple, see letter of Prince Azariah. 

Chapters 44-46. The worship of the restored 
people in the land. 

Chapter 47. The blessings flowing from the 
Temple over the land as a river. 

Chapter 48. The full restoration, the Lord is there. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE STORY OF TWO ORATIONS, BY HAGGAI 
AND ZECHARIAH, DURING THE RE- 
BUILDING OF JERUSALEM 

A Letter from a Prince of Benjamin to His 
Sister Remaining in Babylon 

No one can find the least fault with you for staying 
with your husband and your young children. We 
remember the nobility of Prince Istaroch, the wise- 
man of the Chaldeans, who fell in love with you and 
made you his wife over ten years ago. His father 
had been kind to the captive, Prince Azariah, and made 
him his companion in his studies ; and had given honor 
to our great God who had saved the lives of the wise- 
men by revealing to Daniel the dream of Nebuchad- 
nezzar. We know your husband too, honors our God 
and counseled King Cyrus to issue the decree for the 
return of the captives and the rebuilding of Jerusalem ; 
but we could not expect him to cast in his lot with us ; 
nor could we expect you to leave him you so deeply 
love and your children who must have remained with 
him in his palace. Still we know your thoughts often 
follow us in our strange experience. 

I saw you watching us and waving farewell to us 
as we marched through the streets of Babylon toward 
the northern gate. Ours was a vast array of perhaps 

131 



132 ORATORY AND POETRY 

thirty thousand men and women, we had many horses 
and camels and rich belongings. We were in high 
spirits, praising God with trumpets and songs; and 
many cheers followed us from the friendly citizens 
of the great capital. Was it not wonderful, to us and 
to them, that Cyrus should have decreed the return of 
the captives? The hand of the great God who had in 
many ways shown his presence and power in Babylon 
was evidently leading us. But there was also a heavy 
heart in many a marching captive, for we were leaving 
our birthplace and life-long home-city, and were break- 
ing many strong ties of family and friendship and 
some of us were leaving great prosperity which we 
had gained and which promised to increase. 

As we marched in easy stages on the wellmade roads 
along the beautiful and fruitful banks of the river 
Euphrates we were joined by large numbers of cap- 
tives from the various flourishing towns and cities who 
in their loyalty to our God cast in their lot with us : 
so for many days the triumphant nature of our jour- 
ney and the spirit of successful adventure cheered our 
spirits. Then followed weary weeks of many hard- 
ships and dangers which greatly depressed us. We 
turned to the west and soon entered a more rugged 
country becoming at length mountainous; it was also 
less fruitful, and sometimes, for long marches, it was 
difficult to get sufficient sustenance ; and especially the 
populace was less friendly and frequently became hos- 
tile. Sometimes we halted for days while our leaders, 
with great difficulty persuaded those in power to grant 
us permission to pass through their borders. The 
empire of Cyrus covered all our journey but some 



HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH 133 

fierce tribes we passed on the way were restive under 
his sway, and even when their leaders permitted us 
to pass, the people hung upon our skirts with frowns 
and curses and often with swift and fierce assaults. 
So with danger and hardship the weary weeks passed 
by and our march was slow, we were only protected 
by the reluctant obedience given to a heathen king. 
We could not help contrasting our experience with 
that of our fore-fathers when God brought them out 
of Egypt; then there was the terror of their masters 
awakened by the plagues and at length by the over- 
throw of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea; then 
God revealed his presence, and glory at Mount Sinai, 
and he guided them through all their journey by the 
pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, and pro- 
vided for all their needs and defended them from all 
their foes. But with us there was no sign of God's 
presence, the heavens above us were clear and silent; 
we had to find our own way through a strange land 
and we were defended from fierce foes only by the 
decree of a heathen king. Were we indeed under 
the care of our God and were we doing his will? We 
believed it, but we could not see any sign of his pres- 
ence and favor, save only that we were on our journey 
to our homeland by the decree of Cyrus, that wonder- 
ful decree which we could account for only by the 
wisdom and power and favor of our God. 

When at length we reached our homeland its charm 
of beauty thrilled us: its grand mountains and hills, 
its graceful streams and plains, its wide views of the 
great sea were as our fathers had described them to 
us; but its great fruitfulness had been swept away by 



134 ORATORY AND POETRY 

the grasping, greedy colonists during the seventy years 
of their possession; and these colonists themselves 
treated us as intruders upon what they regarded as 
their land. When at last we reached Jerusalem our 
spirits were almost crushed into despair. Was it for 
this we had left our relatives and friends in Babylon, 
and our prosperity there ? Was it for this that we had 
pressed our way through the untold hardships and 
dangerous foes of our long march? Jerusalem was 
still in ruins. The few of our nation who had re- 
mained when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city, re- 
garded it as forsaken of God and had scattered into 
nearby or quite distant villages and towns. 

The colonists from Babylon had regarded the city 
of our God as cursed by their triumphant gods, and 
as Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed it, they in loyalty 
to him and to their gods, left it to its deserved desola- 
tion. We had reached the end of our journey and of 
our self-denial in loyalty to our God : but where was 
our God? No voice came from the clear skies. There 
was no sign of his presence on the mountain-tops. 
And this wide ruin, these broken walls, these destroyed 
palaces, this burned temple seemed to say : He is not 
here, he has forsaken the place. 

But we were here with our camels and horses and 
large possessions, and we were here by the command 
of Cyrus and through him, of our God; and we were 
to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple ; and, too wonder- 
ful to realize, we were ia vast number of people, nearly 
fifty thousand men and women, less than a year ago 
we were captives in far-off Babylon, now we were in 
the land of our fathers where they had lived and wor- 



HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH 135 

shipped our God through many prosperous genera- 
tions. So we soon began to recover our faith and our 
courage, though we could not see our God we would 
obey him; we would rebuild the city and the temple. 
Then we found that our hardships were only begun. 
We could build only the rudest houses at first, mere 
huts for shelter during the cold, rainy seasons ; and we 
could secure only the barest sustenance from our 
greedy neighbors. So many weary months passed by. 
We rebuilt the walls of the city marking its former 
boundaries, though we were small in numbers where 
multitudes had formerly lived ; we marked out, as far 
as we needed, the old streets where palaces had stood 
and began building better houses for our use; we 
cleared off the mountain of the Lord's Temple of its 
desecrated ruins and there we reestablished the wor- 
ship of Jehovah. Our assemblies of the people on 
this mount of worship were often joyous and we sang 
aloud the praises of Jehovah; sometimes we were de- 
pressed and we then cultured our faith by recounting 
how he had led our fore- fathers and how he had freed 
us from our captivity in Babylon ; and we sought help 
from him in carrying on the great work he had given 
us to do. 

Thus several years passed by and still we hesitated 
to build the Temple of the Lord. We were not pros- 
perous enough to begin such a great work; the har- 
vests were poor, the land having been so long abused 
by the grasping colonists, and of course Jerusalem 
itself was poor, much of the wealth we had brought 
with us had already been used to build our dwelling- 
houses ; and the temple, when builded, should be splen- 



136 ORATORY AND POETRY 

did like Solomon's and worthy of the great Jehovah; 
surely we were not able yet to undertake such a build- 
ing. Besides, the Babylonian colonists were hostile to 
our building the city and the temple ; they discouraged 
us in every way and tried to dissuade and hinder us 
and they sent word to the king w^ho succeeded Cyrus 
who responded with a decree forbidding the further 
building of what they called "the rebellious city." But 
soon another king, finding the decree of Cyrus, issued 
a decree that the city and the temple, too, should be 
rebuilded. 

Then a strange thing occurred. There was a great 
assembly of the people worshipping Jehovah on the 
temple-hill before the altar we had erected there, the 
smoke of the evening sacrifice was rising in the air 
and the song of praise was just ending when a very 
old man pressed forward and began to speak to us."^ 
Though his age was apparent, his long hair and long 
beard as white as the snow of Mount Hermon, still 
he was a straight and sturdy man and his voice had 
its thunder tones as if God was speaking through him. 
We were greatly impressed by him for it seemed to 
us that the spirit of the old prophets, who had ap- 
pealed to our fathers so often and had brought to them 
messages from God, was with us now and had a mes- 
sage for us. His was a short oration but it was a 
very earnest one. "Carefully consider your ways" he 
urged us. "Look upon them as God looks upon them ; 
ye have builded yourselves houses and ye dwell in 
them, but ye have not builded a house for God to dwell 
with you, his house lieth waste. Ye have indeed sown 

* Haggai, the whole book. 



HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH 137 

much and have brought in very little, ye eat but ye 
have not enough. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. 
Because of mine house that lieth waste while ye run 
every man to his own house. Now consider your ways 
saith the Lord : go up to the mountain and bring wood 
and build my house and I will take pleasure in it and 
will dwell with you and bless you." 

His speech greatly influenced us; it was indeed a 
call from God himself to us and we at once resolved 
that we would build the temple; and while we were 
encouraging each other he vanished away. Many were 
the inquiries, as we went down from the hill to our 
houses, as to who he was and where he lived; but 
no one could tell. 

There followed busy weeks of great enthusiasm; 
the bounds of the temple were marked out, the foun- 
dations were laid, much material of wood and stone 
was gathered from the mountains; but at length our 
hearts began to fail us. There were many among us 
who had heard from our fathers of the grandeur of 
Solomon's Temple and there were a few old men 
among us who had seen that building, one of the won- 
ders of the world, with its wide colonnades of marble, 
its roof of gold flashing in the sunlight. They all told 
us and we all felt that, do the best we could, our 
temple would hardly be a rebuilding, it would be base 
and mean compared with the former glory. Then one 
evening, after a discouraging day's work when our 
hearts were cast down within us and our evening 
worship itself had been greatly depressed, the old 
prophet stood again before us. 

There was inspiration in his face, there was the 



138 ORATORY AND POETRY 

ringing tone of triumph in his voice as he brought 
another message to us from our great Jehovah. He 
spoke as if he knew our inmost thoughts. "Ye that 
saw this house in its former glory, how do ye see it 
now? It is in your eyes as nothing. But not so in 
the eyes of your God. Thus saith the Lord of hosts : 
be strong, oh governor ; be strong, oh priest ; be strong 
to build this house, oh people. For the desirable of 
all nations shall come to this house. I will fill this 
house with my glory, the latter glory of this house 
shall be greater than the former. In this place will J 
give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.'' 

And again the old prophet vanished away. No one 
knew who he was, whence he came, or whither he 
went : but the message he gave us thrilled us with new 
courage. We did not know how it could ever be: 
the glory of this house greater than that of Solomon's 
Temple; the desirable of all nations to come here; 
peace, soundness, completeness to center here; the 
glory of God to dwell here. Well might we work to 
take part in such far reaching plans of our great 
Jehovah. 

Once again the old prophet spoke to the people 
building the temple. Once again his great oration 
carried us far beyond our day and our vision and gave 
us a glimpse of Jehovah's wide plans. We could 
hardly believe that our poor work and faltering hearts 
should be of service to him in his gracious purposes 
for the whole earth, but so the prophet assured us. 
"Ye have indeed been faulty, even unclean in my 
sight, and I have seen your work for yourselves as 
unclean; but now ye have turned and ye are building 



HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH 139 

my house and working with me, and from this day I 
will bless you. And you, the governor of my people 
and their leader in their work, the little ruler of a 
small people, be not cast down; thus saith the Lord of 
hosts, I will shake the heavens and the earth, I will 
overthrow the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, 
but I will take thee, my servant and will make thee 
as a signet, the sign of my wide-spread and everlasting 
rule, for I have chosen thee." 

Again the old prophet vanished from our sight, and 
we never saw him again. We have since discovered 
that he was of the few great men, the true servants 
of God who remained in this land when Nebuchadnez- 
zar destroyed the temple and carried the last captives 
to Babylon. His name was Haggai and he had lived, 
with a few friends on the mountain east of Jerusalem, 
a life of meditation and of waiting for the promised 
restoration; and that these three times he had felt 
impelled to bear his message from God to his dis- 
couraged people. Upon his return from the last mis- 
sion he had died and had been buried with honor and 
affection worthy of such a choice spirit. 

Then the entirely unexpected happened. There was 
a young man among our leaders, very hopeful and 
courageous, who was constantly growing in influence 
over us; an obstacle only invited him to overcome it, 
and he carried along many followers by his contagious 
good cheer. He met the opposition of our foes with 
a mingled tact and determination that frequently 
silenced them. He seemed to have but one idea which 
swayed him and through him swayed a multitude : 
that our God, who had commanded the building of tlie 



I40 ORATORY AND POETRY 

temple, would certainly crown his obedient followers 
with complete success, no matter how difficult the task 
or who opposed them. Many thought he was a young 
enthusiast who lacked judgment' and that we should 
be very cautious how we followed him lest he should 
awaken our foes to fierce and overwhelming opposi- 
tion, lest we undertake a greater work than we had 
power to complete. Others thought, especially the 
younger among us, that his was the only reasonable 
spirit in carrying out the commandment of our God. 

But while we differed in our views of this young 
man and his enthusisastic leadership, not a single one 
of us ever dreamed of his being a prophet of God, nor 
had he ever claimed such an office. Then at the close 
of the evening sacrifice, Zechariah made a great ora- 
tion to the assembled people, claiming that God had 
given him a message for us."^ No one of us will ever 
forget that speech. In a most rapt way he described 
to us a series of strange visions God had given him 
and as he described them he seemed to see them again ; 
and he made us see them as he saw them ; and the awe 
he felt thrilled our souls as well. In each case he 
asked an angel who stood by him, the meaning of 
the vision; and as he told us the answer given him, it 
seemed as if God spoke to us through him. It seemed, 
as Zechariah spoke, that God was present though our 
eyes could not see him; and that he was showing us 
the kingdoms of the earth and the forces dominant in 
them, that we might courageously fill our part in God's 
great plan. Zechariah, this young prophet, as he de- 
scribed each vision, said: "I Hfted up mine eyes and 

♦Zechariah, the whole book. 



HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH 141 

saw" : what he saw God made him see ; then in each 
case he said: "Oh my Lord, what are these?" And 
the angel described the meaning of the vision: the 
prophet was only the seer of the sights God made to 
pass before him, and the speaker of the message God 
gave to him. The visions, while far different from 
each other, seemed closely related in their meaning; 
and, as he described them and explained them, we 
were carried on to ever higher heights of courage and 
enthusiasm to build the temple. 

The first vision was of a man riding a horse and 
leading many other horses. And the angel said, 
'These are the Lord's messengers through the earth, 
hear the report they make, ^We have walked peace- 
fully through the earth and behold the earth sitteth 
still and is at rest.' Then the Lord said, 'This is the 
peaceful time, I am returned to Jerusalem with 
mercies, my house shall be built in it for me to dwell 
there.' " 

The second vision was of horns and smiths breaking 
them. And the angel said, "Though the horns of all 
earthly powers may oppose, the smiths of the Lord 
will break them." 

The third vision was of a man measuring the bounds 
of the city. And the angel said, "Multitudes shall 
dwell in the city and be secure for the Lord himself 
will be unto her a wall of fire round about her and a 
glory in the midst of her : sing and rejoice, oh daughter 
of Zion, for lo ! I come, and I will dwell in the midst 
of thee saith the Lord." 

The fourth vision was of Joshua, our high priest, 
clad in poor garments and Satan opposing him. And 



142 ORATORY AND POETRY 

the angel said, 'The Lord rebuke thee, oh Satan; take 
the poor garments from the high priest and clothe him 
with rich apparel, and set a fair mitre upon his head ; 
for the Lord hath caused the iniquity of the people to 
pass away and hath clothed them with the spirit of 
walking in his ways, so their priest shall have access 
to me." 

The fifth vision was of a golden candle-stick in the 
temple, fed by the oil from wonderful living olive 
trees. And the angel said, "O Zerubbabel, thou gov- 
ernor of my people, thy work is not by thy might, nor 
by thy power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. 
Thy hands have laid the foundations of my temple, thy 
hands shall finish it. Who art thou, oh great mountain 
that opposes him! Thou shalt become a plain; he 
shall bring forth the head-stone of my house with 
shoutings of grace unto it." 

Then followed strange visions of an immense fly- 
ing roll, and of a woman sitting in a large measure 
which was carried by women with wings, and of four 
chariots with horses coming out from between two 
mountains of brass and driving like the wind in all 
directions; and the angel explained that the Lord 
would remove wickedness out of his land and would 
subdue all lands under his righteous dominion. 

Zechariah closed his great oration by telling us that 
Jehovah had comimanded him to make a crown of 
silver and gold, very rich, and place it upon the head 
of Joshua, our high priest, and this crown was to be 
treasured in the temple of the Lord. Connected with 
this priestly crown there was a mysterious promise 
which we could not fully understand but which 



HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH 143 

brought to our memory the statement of Haggai : that 
the glory of this temple would be greater than that of 
Solomon. "The Lord will raise up a man whose 
name is the Branch, he shall grow and shall build the 
temple and shall bear the glory and shall be a priest, 
sitting and ruling upon his throne, and they that are 
afar off shall come and build in the temple of the 
Lord/' 

It has been several months since the death of the 
old prophet, Haggai, and since the outburst of proph- 
ecy in the enthusiastic young man, Zechariah, and the 
work of building the temple is going on with much 
zeal. We feel that we have been wonderfully restored 
from the long captivity in Babylon, and though we 
have many hardships and much opposition and great 
difficulty, yet we are obeying the commands of our 
great Jehovah and he is with us and is blessing us. 

Our temple, at its best, will not be as splendid in 
outward appearance as that where our fathers wor- 
shipped, the temple Solomon builded ; but the prophets 
have given us the vision of God's plans, and the temple 
we build will have the greater inward glory, it will be 
the throne-room where the Branch that God will raise 
up, the King-priest, crowned by God's command, will 
sit and rule all the nations in righteousness. 

So the temple nears completion as we work with the 
great courage that the prophets have inspired. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE STORY OF TWO ORATIONS BY JESUS 
OF NAZARETH 

A Letter from One Traveling in the Eastern 

Provinces to His Father^ a Patrician 

AT Rome 

After visiting Ephesus, Antioch and Damascus, I 
feached this land some three months ago and I have 
become so much interested in these people that I plan 
to remain among them for a long time. At first I 
lived in Capernaum, a flourishing city on the Sea of 
Tiberias and there I have my apartments now; I 
have secured them from a wealthy Greek merchant 
whose marble palace is reflected in the clear waters of 
the lake, and there my servants are staying: it is a 
home befitting the rank of your son. 

But the city itself is every much like the other cities 
I have visited, it is on the caravan route from the 
great sea to Damascus ; and the Sea of Tiberias, while 
small, has many cities upon its shores and much com- 
merce is carried on; so the city is one of merchants 
and traders, and the streets are full of the rush of 
business, and men of niany nations meet in its markets : 
it is a place of great wealth and large influence and 
here, of course, the power of our great empire is 
dominant. 

144 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 145 

But now for a month or more I have been living 
among the people of the land in the towns and villages 
off the great caravan route and between the Sea of 
Tiberias and the great sea. I am trying to realize 
your design in sending me to other lands, that I may 
learn self-control and so learn to control others, that I 
may know how to rule strange people should I ever 
become the governor of a province, that I may be 
your worthy successor in the senate should that time 
ever come, and that I may know how to manage our 
vast estates. I am alone among the people, my serv- 
ants I have ordered to remain in Capernaum, but I 
am being well-treated and I am welcomed wherever I 
go, treated as one of their number. You may think 
this very strange when I tell you what kind of people 
they are, that I, a Roman nobleman, should be willing 
to live with them as an equal, and that they, though 
very hospitable, should be willing to receive one of 
their conquerors as a friend. The first is a long story 
which this letter will explain; the second, their high 
regard for me, is due to a little adventure I had when 
I first went out among them. These people have a 
very high regard for the virtue of their women, as 
you have taught me to have ; their mothers are vener- 
ated, husbands and wives are true to each other, 
divorce is almost unknown among them, and the 
chastity of their maidens is sacred. One day as I was 
walking along the high wall of an olive grove I heard 
an agonized cry for help. I sprang over the wall and, 
running into the thick grove, I found a Roman cen- 
turion trying to violate a Jewish maiden and she was 
in desperate resistance. Drawing my sword, I sprang 



146 ORATORY AXD POETRY 

to her assistance: I found the centurion a brave war- 
rior and it was only after a fierce battle that I suc- 
ceeded in disabling him; then I made myself known 
to him and denounced his dastardly attempt. But 
another had heard the maiden's cry for help, and her 
betrothed lover, a sturdy peasant, came with fur}*, to 
save her: with a great club he would have killed the 
disabled centurion had I not defended him; so I won 
the respect of the centurion by saving his life and the 
deep gratitude of the lovers, I saved them to each 
other, for had he killed the centurion his own life 
would have been forfeited. Xot only did the town 
where they lived and where they were soon married, 
welcome me as their friend but many other nearby 
towns heard of my risking my life to save the girl 
from a Roman centurion and welcomed me as their 
friend; I became a hero in their esteem, their own 
hero, and they treated me and are treating me without 
reserve as their friend. 

The remainder of this letter will explain to you 
how I, who have always lived in a palace and asso- 
ciated only with the noble, should be interested in 
these people whom we must call peasants, and why I 
should be a guest in their common abodes. 

The land is ven' beautiful, valleys and plains with 
quite high hills and to the north high moimtains, 
give it a varied charm; the views are delightful of the 
rolling hills and lofty mountains, the great sea toward 
the sunset and the little sea toward the east with the 
lofty table-lands beyond. On the hillsides and in the 
valleys there are many towns and villages, their white 
buildings, made of the native rock, flashing in the 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 147 

sunlight. The Hfe in these towns seems Hke that of a 
large family, there are no classes among the people 
such as we are familiar with rich and poor, patrons 
and clients, masters and slaves, land-owners and land- 
laborers; but all are equal in rights and privileges 
and live as neighbors and friends. Each town and 
village is self-supporting, there is friendly intercourse 
with others but only that of fellowship, not of depend- 
ence. The people are themselves of a wonderfully 
independent, self-respecting, self-supporting spirit. All 
the land in this section of the country, and I under- 
stand it is largely so in the southern province, is 
divided up into small farms and each farm is held by 
a family in successive generations and so becomes 
very dear to the family. The families live together in 
the fellowship of the villages and towns; each family 
has its own house and, on the outskirts of the town on 
all sides, each family has its own small farm. These 
farms are generally narrow strips of land reaching 
and touching, at the farther end, the farms of the 
next village : so there are a multitude of such villages 
covering the hillsides and nestling in the valleys. Each 
family sends its members out in the morning to culti- 
vate the land; the families are generally large so the 
workers are many, and there is a friendly rivalry in 
making each farm a garden spot; the valleys are 
covered with grain, the hills are terraced wath olive 
groves and vineyards, so the land, naturally fertile, 
and cultivated in this way, becomes very productive 
and, were it not for the heavy taxes of our empire 
and of the people's religion, plenty would abound 
and prosperity be more evenly distributed. 



148 ORATORY AND POETRY 

So you see if I am to live with these people at all 
I cannot live in a palace, the center of a large estate 
as in my homeland, for there is no such large estate 
owned by the people of the land and only here and 
there one that some noble Roman or Greek has, by 
various means of oppression, secured for himself. In 
our land, many such villages would themselves be 
owned by some wealthy nobleman whose palace would 
dominate the country-side, and the people of the vil- 
lages would be his dependents, and you would not 
want your son to live or associate in any way with 
such inferiors. But here I am living with the land- 
owners themselves and they are a most self-respecting 
and independent people ; I have learned, proud Roman 
as I am, to hold them in high regard ; and they regard 
me as their friend; and, do not laugh at me or in 
scorn of them, they really treat me as their equal. 

Their hospitality is boundless. When the workers 
return from the fields at eventide and the evening 
meal is over, social life reigns delightfully; there are 
gatherings for amusement and, would you believe it, 
there are gatherings for culture and for the discussion 
of interesting questions of pohtics and religion; and to 
all I am heartily welcomed. One day in every seven 
these people cease all work on farm or in village, 
dress themselves in their festal robes and, men and 
women mingling together as equals, they assemble in 
a large central building that they call a synagogue 
and they sing the songs of their religion and make 
prayers to their God, though there is no image of him 
or any other sign of his presence, and one of them 
reads from their sacred books and speaks upon what 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 149 

he has read; others as they may desire are free to 
speak also, and frequently there is a very earnest dis- 
cussion as to how they shall conduct themselves toward 
their God and toward each other in their daily life 
and, also, toward the Roman government. 

There is a school for the young, connected with each 
synagogue, where all the children of the village are 
taught, which accounts, in a measure, for the general 
intelligence of the people; and this is still further 
promoted by the general discussion of important ques- 
tions of life on the rest days and on other days also; 
and still further by the general independence of the 
people in owning the land and in planning for and 
taking care of themselves: the responsibility of self- 
support quickens their intelligence and independence. 
There is no one to plan for them or to direct them in 
their work, no one to act in any large way as a father 
or patron of them to support them or to defend them, 
and so they must as equals take care of themselves; 
and this develops the true manliness and womanliness 
which have now my highest admiration. You can 
hardly believe I know, for I could not if I had not 
lived among them, that all the people of the land 
deserve the name of noblemen; we are so used to 
taking care of our dependents on our vast estates and 
to rule the many slaves in our palaces that we can 
think only of ourselves as noblemen and of all other 
people as far beneath us, even as belonging to an 
inferior race; but there are no inferiors here, all are 
independent, equal, and live in these towns and villages 
as members of one large family. 

For the past few weeks I have been living, a guest 



ISO ORATORY AND POETRY 

of several families, in the village of Nazareth; it is 
the home of several thousand of these independent 
people, most of them owners and farmers of the sur- 
rounding land and such merchants and artizans as are 
needed to make the common life flow easily and 
smoothly. It is beautifully situated on a high hillside 
looking off to the great sea and the wide, charming 
views of hill and valley and sea are inspiring to every 
lover of nature and the air is as clear and warm and 
the skies are as blue as in my beloved homeland. I 
have here learned of a remarkable man, a native of 
this town who carried on the trade of a carpenter up 
to about a year ago, but who now has become a great 
teacher having a large and spreading influence among 
the people of the whole land, he is still a young man 
about thirty years of age and is called Jesus of Naza- 
reth. He teaches about, what he calls, the Kingdom 
of God which he is to establish. A few weeks before 
I came here he came back to Nazareth for a few 
days; he had won the admiration and regard of all 
by his life among them as a carpenter for he had been 
a fine and faithful workman in all departments of his 
trade; and the people were very proud of the fame 
as a teacher he had attained as far south as the capital 
city, Jerusalem; so his welcome by his former friends 
and neighbors was hearty. But there came a sudden 
revulsion of feeling when on the rest day he spoke 
to the assembled multitude in their synagogue, and they 
turned him out of their town, threatening to kill him. 
I find it difficult to understand why this quick change 
of feeling occurred. It seems he gave a most glowing 
account of the kingdom of God, and they were aston- 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 151 

ished at his learning and eloquence; and when they 
questioned him further about this kingdom, he inti- 
mated to them in his vivid way that he would extend 
it to all nations besides their own, that it would take 
in, on equal terms, even their former and present 
oppressors, the Greeks and the Romans; then they 
rose against him in flaming wrath. He is now making 
his home in Capernaum from which place he goes 
about teaching in various towns, and recently I found 
an opportunity to hear him for I was very anxious 
to learn about the strange kingdom he is proclaiming. 
Besides there are many stories told of this Jesus: that 
he works signs or wonders, as they are called, deeds 
that show that he has more than human power, and 
he always works these to bless the needy, and from 
the goodness of his heart. 

Do you remember the patrician, our nearest neigh- 
bor, who left Rome several years ago because it was 
thought his invalid son would be benefited by living 
in the far east? I met him in Capernaum, he has a 
fine palace on the outskirts of the town, and when I 
visited him there I asked him about his son. He at 
once called him and he is now the very picture of 
youthful, vigorous health. I expressed my gratified 
surprise that the climate had done so much for him. 
*'0h, it was not the climate," he said, ''he became 
weaker and weaker and at length was at the point of 
death. Then in my despair I sought out Jesus of 
Nazareth, he was teaching some twenty miles off, I 
thrust my way through the crowd and interrupted him 
with my agonized cry: ^Sir, come down ere my cliild 
die!' He looked upon me with mingled majesty and 



152 ORATORY AND POETRY 

compassion and said in utmost simplicity, 'Go thy way, 
thy son liveth'; it seemed impossible, but I believed 
him ; and bowing down low to him, I hastened on my 
return. When I reached home the next day I found 
my son well and strong and he told me that the fever 
left him at the very hour the day before that Jesus 
had said 'Thy son Hveth.' Now I believe in Jesus 
and in his kingdom and so do all my family." So I 
became still more anxious to hear this wonderful 
teacher speak about his new kingdom. 

A few evenings ago it was rumored through the 
town that Jesus of Nazareth was a few miles off 
toward the Sea of Tiberias; several members of the 
family, whose guest I was, had great admiration for 
him and proposed an early trip the next morning to 
hear him; many others entered into the plan and I 
was very glad to go with them. The stars were still 
shining when we started and we were quickly joined 
on our way by many others from other towns. When 
we came near the village where Jesus had spent the 
night we found the whole country-side had poured 
out, from all directions, a multitude of men and 
women eager to hear him. Some of his attendants, 
by his direction, arranged that we should gather on a 
certain hillside and that Jesus would then come and 
speak to us. It was a strikingly beautiful scene: the 
hill sloped gently down to a broad plain which reached 
to the little sea only a few miles distant ; the multitude 
sat down on the grass, the day was clear as a bell, the 
air delightful with the breath of the springtime. There 
was eager excitement quickly spreading through the 
crowd when it became known that Jesus had recently 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 153 

worked many wonders of healing and that he had just 
chosen twelve men to carry on his work and had 
conferred like power upon them. 

As I looked over the multitude most of them were 
evidently from the surrounding towns but there were 
also many who, by their dress, showed they were 
from distant cities and from other lands. There was 
a hush of all the excited talk, and a great silence 
when a tall and powerfully built man, in the ordinary 
garb of the country people, passed with great dignity 
of bearing, among us and, reaching a vantage-point, 
turned and began speaking to us. Then for the first 
time I saw Jesus of Nazareth, a man I will never 
forget. 

His face was like that of a god, like Apollo, full 
of a commanding majesty and mingled with it, a deep 
compassion for mankind. His voice, how shall I 
describe it? It had much of Jove-like power that 
spoke only to be obeyed, and with it was an infinite 
tenderness like that of some noble mother counseling 
her sons to lofty lives. And the speech he made to 
us, how I wish I could fully describe it to you ; I had 
meant to take notes and had brought my tablets with 
me, but I was so impressed by the man and his great 
oration that I forgot the tablets, I was simply carried 
along by his eloquence; so now I can only try to tell 
you what he made me see and feel of the great king- 
dom of God he is trying to establish. 

From the first words he spoke* I got the idea that 
his kingdom was to be one of happiness and, strange 
to say, this happiness did not arise from outward 

♦ Matthew, chapters s, 6, 7, 



154 ORATORY AND POETRY 

conditions of wealth or power; it did not arise from 
grasping and struggling and conquering in contests 
wuth others; it belonged to the poor not to the rich, 
to the meek not to the proud, to the merciful not to 
the exacting, to the peace-makers not to the war- 
makers, it was the reverse of our Roman ideas of 
happiness. 

At first I thought he was trying to make the con- 
quered content with their hard lot, to cheer and com- 
fort the weak and oppressed ; but there was a strange 
incitement that thrilled me and, as I looked upon the 
eager faces of the listeners, I saw them awaken to 
lofty purpose and splendid hope; a happiness that was 
independent of rank and station might itself be more 
lofty and splendid than the highest station, not only 
independent of it but itself high above it. We Romans 
are proud of ruling the world but are not very happy 
in ruling it, nor is the world much happier for our 
rule. We patricians are proud of our noble rank but 
are we happy in our palaces or are our clients and 
slaves, the great mass of our people, happier for our 
being lifted so high above them? Have we Roman 
nobles secured the noblest happiness within our reach ? 
I cannot tell how it was done, I cannot quote the 
splendid, flowing sentences that came from his lips, 
but somehow he made me see a nobler manhood than 
I had ever dreamed of before, made me ambitious to 
be a nobleman not merely of Rome but of the race of 
mankind. Then too I ^aw the faces of the multitude 
light up with hope and purpose as they caught the 
spirit of his great oration, as through his flowing, 
stately eloquence he poured his ideas and his power 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 155 

into their minds and hearts, and he made me feel that 
it was as possible for the lowest farmer in that crowd 
as it was for me, the proud Roman, to aspire to, to 
strive for and to attain the noblest manhood, that all 
men of whatever nationality, of whatever rank, had 
equal right and equal obligation to become noblemen. 

There was a great deal in this wonderful oration 
that I could not fully understand, especially about 
the religion of this people. It seems they believe there 
is but one God and that he has a special interest in 
their nation, and it seemed that Jesus had the strongest 
faith in this one God but also believed that he ex- 
tended his interest to all nations. It seems they be- 
lieve this God has given them certain laws, and some 
of their teachers limit these laws to outward acts, 
but Jesus insists they should govern the mind and 
heart as well as the acts of man. He used some very 
striking sayings in speaking of these laws, so striking 
that they hold fast in my memory and stir my con- 
science. He said *'He that looketh on a woman to 
lust after her hath commited adultery with her al- 
ready in his heart.'' He said *'He that is angry with 
his brother is in danger of being judged by God" and 
he insists that all men are our brothers. He com- 
manded ''Love your enemies and do good to them 
that hate you." He gave also a general rule for 
thinking, feeling and acting which, it seems to me, 
forces us to acknowledge that all men, even our slaves, 
have equal rights: he said **Do unto others as ye 
would that they should do unto you." I wonder if 
we could have slaves at all if we kept this rule. But 
not only did he describe how men should treat each 



156 ORATORY AND POETRY 

other in their action and regard them in their thoughts 
as brothers but he urged them in this way to serve 
and grow Hke their God : ''Be perfect as your heavenly 
Father is perfect; do good even to your enemies, so 
shall ye be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to 
the unthankful and the evil; be ye merciful even as 
your Father is merciful." Is not that a wonderful 
thought of God, a father not only as creating and 
ruling as we think of Jupiter, but as having a fatherly 
feeling for all men, being kind and merciful even to 
the evil ? 

So this great oration upon the kingdom Jesus is 
trying to establish shows it is not for his nation alone 
but for all the nations, and also that it is most unlike 
the kingdom of power, unlike our Roman Empire. 
He began by describing it as the kingdom of happiness 
but, as he swept on in the torrent of his most thrilling 
eloquence, it became the kingdom of self-respect when 
each man respects himself as the son of God and 
respects all other men as his brothers; and, having 
this deep respect in his heart, he regards himself and 
regards his fellow-man, of whatever race or rank, as 
a child of his Father in heaven; and as that Father 
regards him in mercy and love so he must treat his 
fellowman as a real brother. 

One can easily see that the empire of Rome must 
pass away if this kingdom of self-respect is to be 
established, that all our rank and splendid station 
must pass away when all men shall respect themselves 
and each other equally, that our class is not born to 
rule nor the mass of men to be ruled; that one class 
is not born to grasp and grow rich and powerful and 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 157 

the mass of men to be taxed and to grow poor; but 
that all are to govern themselves into a growing like- 
ness to their Father in heaven. This kingdom of 
happiness, this kingdom of self-respect, if it ever 
spreads over the earth, may well be called the kingdom 
of God, the kingdom of heaven on earth. 

Jesus closed his great oration most impressively by 
stating with Jove-like authority that only the life 
builded in obedience to his teaching would last through 
all trials and be approved of God. When he had 
finished speaking, Jesus passed down the hillside to 
the Sea of Tiberias and so walked toward Capernaum, 
and great multitudes followed him. There was great 
discussion as we mingled with each other, concerning 
the ideas of the kingdom he was trying to establish, 
A learned Greek said with a sneer "He speaks of 
himself and his few lowly followers as the light of 
the world, his is a very small world bounded by these 
green hills, he evidently has never heard of Athens 
and the groves of philosophy, never heard of Socrates 
and Plato : it is absurd that his teachings should com- 
pare with theirs, or ever take the place of theirs." A 
Roman commander of ^a legion, walking with us, advo- 
cated the rule of the many by the few, he thought 
that Jesus himself would see the impossibility of his 
kingdom of the masses, of self-respecting manhood, 
if he should visit the capital of the world; if he should 
tread the Forum he would see that the power en- 
throned in the senate and the emperor was needed to 
keep the masses in order. 

One of the religious leaders of this people turned 
to us with lofty scorn, "Oh, that kingdom that Jesus 



158 ORATORY AND POETRY 

advocates is not the kingdom we are looking forward 
to; ours, too, is a kingdom of glory and power when 
our God will give us the rule over all the earth; you 
Romans then will feel how it is to be ruled by us as you 
now rule us." But the people generally, those with 
whom I have been living for the past few months in 
their towns and villages, were eager in their approval 
of the kingdom, only they confined it largely to them- 
selves, they failed to grasp the teaching of Jesus that 
it was to take in, in its broad sweep, all the races and 
classes of mankind. I confess that it is this that 
startles me, I can see the grandeur of the idea, but 
how it can ever be brought about, I fail to see; but 
when I was under the spell of his presence and elo- 
quence it seemed to me it would surely come to pass : 
when all men would regard themselves as children of 
God and think and feel and act toward each other as 
such in the universal kingdom of self-respect, the 
kingdom of God on earth. Some of my friends from 
Nazareth thought that Jesus, by his more than human 
power, would sweep away all opposition and establish 
his kingdom whenever he chose, but it seems to me 
that power cannot do this, that the sweep of armies 
over the nations would be in vain, that the kingdom of 
self-respect and respect for all men must grow within 
men, that it cannot be forced from without; and I 
have heard that Jesus himself often insists upon this 
nature of his kingdom. 

This letter had to be broken oflf here; and now 
after more than a year has passed, I take it up again 
to tell you more of this strange people and this wonder- 
ful man. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 159 

When I reached Capernaum I found there several 
Roman nobles about to undertake the daring journey 
across the desert to Babylon; they wanted to rival 
the famous ride of Nebuchadnezzar when he was be- 
sieging Jerusalem and, on some emergency of state, 
rode straight across the desert to his capital; it was 
thought impossible, but what the world-conqueror could 
do centuries ago these young Romans thought they 
could do as well. The novelty and danger of the 
adventure greatly appealed to me and, at their urgent 
request, I joined them. I wanted to feel the spell of 
the vast silence of the desert, to feel the warmth of the 
sun by day, to gaze upon the brilliant stars by night, 
to press on to the receding, far-off horizon by day 
and by night and then to visit the far-famed capital 
city of the vast, ancient world-empire. Our trip far 
exceeded our anticipations and I will fully describe it 
to you as soon as I can secure a little leisure. Coming 
back we passed up the river-valley until we were oppo- 
site Palmyra and we visited for several weeks that 
sparkling gem of the desert and so came on south to 
this land again where my companions left me to return 
to Rome. For several weeks I rested at the summer 
palace of Pilate, the governor, on the eastern slope 
of Mount Hermon; his wife, Calpurnia and her charm- 
ing daughter, Livia, with their large retinue were 
spending the hot months in the delightful cool of the 
mountain. As you know my warm admiration for 
Livia and my hopes concerning her, you can faintly 
imagine my delight at being their guest and then to 
accompany them on their leisurely return to Jeru- 
salem. This living so long with the nobility in my 



i6o ORATORY AND POETRY 

adventure in strange lands, this luxurious, splendid 
life with Calpurnia and her daughter have to a great 
degree dimmed my interest in the wonderful Jesus 
of Nazareth and in his kingdom ; but on our leisurely- 
journey south, we have stopped at many cities and 
palaces and have heard a great deal about him and his 
vast influence with the people ; and Calpurnia has her- 
self become very deeply interested in him. Many 
things the people tell about him seem too wonderful 
to be true : that he fed a vast multitude, some say five 
thousand men, with a few loaves and fishes; that. he 
stilled a great tempest on the Sea of Tiberias by a 
quiet command to the winds and the waves; that he 
stood by a grave where a friend of his had been 
buried for several days and at his command his friend 
had come forth from the grave alive and well. 

I now have been living in Jerusalem for over a 
month, I have apartments in one of its ancient palaces 
and am a frequent guest in the palace of the governor. 
Pilate always speaks of Jesus with a sneer, says the 
stories told of his deeds are beyond belief and that 
his kingdom is a wild vision; but Calpurnia always 
speaks of him with admiration, believes in his won- 
derful works and thinks his kingdom would bring 
blessings to all nations. Among the people of this, 
their capital city, there is the same division of opinion. 
The masses of the people admire and believe in him 
but the leaders in wealth and in social position and 
especially in religion are open and severe in antago- 
nizing him: they recognize instinctively that their 
supremacy would be swept away if his kingdom should 
be established. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH i6i 

Two days ago there was wild excitement in the city. 
There was a rumor in the morning that Jesus of 
Nazareth would enter the city that day and multi- 
tudes went out of the eastern gate and across the 
valley and up the Mount of Olives to meet him. He 
was accompanied by a large number of his enthusi- 
astic followers; when the crowds from the city met 
them they formed a great procession, slowly coming 
down the moantain toward the city, and they filled the 
air with their acclamations and their religious songs. 
Jesus was riding upon an ass and the people caught 
at once the significance of that, as the ass was the 
animal chosen by their ancient kings when they rode 
in state; they acclaimed him with wild joy as their 
king and cast their garments and the branches of palm 
trees in the way before him. We were upon the roof 
of the governor's palace and witnessed the joyous 
procession passing down the hill and across the valley 
and entering the city, we could hear the enthusiastic 
shouts *'A11 hail to the King." One of his officers 
suggested to Pilate there might be danger to his rule 
from this coming King, but he answered with a sneer 
''There is not a soldier in the crowd, nor a sword, nor 
a spear, I do not need to lift a finger against such a 
King as that." 

Today I have listened to another great oration by 
Jesus of Nazareth and a stronger contrast, both in 
the circumstances and in the nature of the oration, with 
that I heard a year ago, could not be imagined. That 
was upon the hillside near the Sea of Tiberias and to 
a crowd gathered from the nearby towns; this was 
in the court of the temple, a more splendid building 



i62 ORATORY AND POETRY 

than any temple I have ever seen or heard of in Rome 
or in the wide world, and to a crowd from the capital 
city, and especially to the leaders of the people, to the 
nobility of the nation. That oration w^as upon the 
nobility and happiness of the kingdom of self-respect, 
the kingdom of God, among all classes and races of 
men; this oration was upon the degradation and 
WTetchedness of the class that lived for itself and 
oppressed others, that opposed the kingdom of God on 
earth. In the morning I met my former friends from 
Nazareth, they had come to the city with Jesus and 
were now his devoted followers and I went with them 
to the temple. 

There were several thousand people in the court of 
the temple, eager listeners to a great contest that was 
going on between the Rulers of the temple and Jesus 
of Nazareth. The Rulers were clad in their robes of 
oflfice, proud of their place and their power, men of 
great ability and keenness in defending their position ; 
he was clad in the garb of the common people and 
stood unattended and alone before them but eager and 
able to advance his cause. There were many things 
about their religion that I could not fully understand 
but from what I could grasp and from their attitude 
and from the expression of the people I easily dis- 
covered that the rulers were being baffled and defeated 
in every position that they took. They challenged 
him on several questions of their law and he an- 
swered them promptly and in a way that upon that 
question put them to silence; they were shown to be 
wrong but they would not acknowledge that he was 
right; each defeat seemed so complete that it roused 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 163 

them only to still fiercer opposition and they soon 
brought forward another challenge. I could not help 
feeling a great sympathy for them; they were virtu- 
ally men of my class and, that they should be put to 
shame before the people they ruled, awakened my 
pity. At length they were silenced. Jesus had 
answered their last challenge in such a way that the 
murmur of the people warned them that their case 
was hopeless. Jesus then turned upon them and chal- 
lenged them with a question of their national and 
religious history. I did not understand it fully but I 
was amazed at its effect upon them; they consulted 
with each other a long time and failed to give him any 
answer at all. But it was quite evident that, though 
he had answered all their challenges and though they 
could not answer even his first question, they were 
only incensed to greater opposition to him and his 
claims. 

There followed a long and most impressive silence. 
All wondered what would come next but it was mani- 
fest that it would not come from the rulers of the 
temple and the people : they were powerless ; it would 
come from the great Teacher of Nazareth. My 
friends and I had pressed through the crowd and 
stood among his followers, quite near to him. There 
was the same Jove-like majesty and power in the 
man that had so impressed me a year ago. He looked 
around upon his followers and the crowd of people, 
with tenderness as a mother would look upon her 
children; then he looked upon the rulers of the people 
gathered before him, and as he looked all the tender- 
ness left his face and a great indignation gathered 



i64 ORATORY AND POETRY 

there, an anger that blazed in every feature and flashed 
from his eyes. He stepped back from these proud 
leaders as if he were about to hurl a thunderbolt to 
destroy them, and when he spoke there was in his 
wonderful voice the tone of a judge passing an irre- 
vocable sentence of destruction upon those confessedly 
unworthy to live among men. Such a denunciation,"^ 
I am sure, never came from human lips : a denuncia- 
tion of the proud leaders of the people in the very 
center of their power, in the temple itself where they 
ruled in the name of their God; and as he spoke, Jesus 
of Nazareth seemed to be more than a man, it seemed 
as if their God had taken possession of him and spoke 
through him. 

Again I wish I could tell you the very words of his 
stern denunciation but even then I could not charge 
them with the fire of his wrath, but I can give you 
only the impression they made upon me. 

He denounced them as having betrayed the trust 
God gave them : they were to establish his kingdom on 
earth, instead they had grasped place and power for 
themselves; they had not only lorded it over the 
people they were to have served, but they had abused 
their power in their own selfish lives, and had resisted 
all efforts made by others to establish the kingdom, as 
they were now resisting him; they were acting now 
as their class had acted in all past ages, selfishly 
elevating themselves and abusing men, not entering the 
kingdom themselves and not suffering others to enter, 
and persecuting those who were trying to establish 
God's kingdom of self-respect among all men. He 

* Matthew, chapter 23. 



JESUS OF NAZARETH 165 

hurled woe after woe upon them as false men, pre- 
tending to serve God and man when they only served 
themselves. They stood before him as long as men 
could bear such indignant denunciation and then they 
fled from his presence. In an instant his indignation 
gave place to an infinite compassion, and with thrilling 
tenderness he spoke to the city itself: "O Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem which killeth the prophets and stoneth them 
that are sent unto thee, how often would I have 
gathered thy children, even as a hen gathereth her 
chickens under her wings, and ye would not." 

Now occurred a most wonderful thing. Some of 
his followers told Jesus that certain Greeks who had 
come to the feast, wished to see him. He responded* 
most graciously, insisting that his kingdom would 
spread as the light over the whole earth, would take 
in all nations, and all who followed him would be 
the children of light. He spoke also, of losing his 
own life for the kingdom, of laying down one's life 
for others instead of making others live for oneself, 
as the leaders did; that one should be so true to God 
that he would live for and be willing to die for the 
establishing his kingdom. Then looking up to 
heaven, a mysterious and wonderful light shone on 
his face, whether shining from within, from conse- 
cration of spirit, or from above, the approval of his 
spirit, who could tell ; and he lifted his voice in adoring 
prayer: ''Father glorify thy name.'' Then there came 
a voice from heaven, I heard it distinctly and under- 
stood the words, the mysterious voice said 'T have 
both glorified it and will glorify it again." 

♦John 12. 20-36. 



i66 ORATORY AND POETRY 

Here ended this thrilling day. Do you wonder that 
I am greatly impressed by this Jesus of Nazareth and 
that his followers have full confidence in him? I 
close this letter in haste as tomorrow morning Pilate 
sends messengers to Rome and I will send it by them 
to you. 



CHAPTER X 

THE STORY OF THE GREAT ORATION BY 
THE APOSTLE PETER 

A Letter from Shemuel the Pharisee to His 
Brother in Alexandria 

When you left us for your home on the morning 
after the Passover Sabbath we all thought we had 
put an end to Jesus of Nazareth and his phantom king- 
dom. You remember how he denounced us in the 
temple in the presence of the people, denounced us 
who for many years had led the people in their reli- 
gious life and had maintained the temple- worship, 
how you were justly indignant at his trying to place 
ignominy upon us, and how you acted with us as we 
speedily brought him under the condemnation of our 
hightest court and compelled the Roman governor to 
crucify him. His deluded followers thought he had 
more than human power, that he led a charmed life, 
but he and his power crumbled at our touch and he 
died upon the shameful cross. We could not indeed, 
for a time, account for the great darkness that came 
upon us at noonday as he hung upon the cross, nor 
could we realize its meaning; we feared it might be 
the frown of God upon our hasty action. You said 
I remember that such sudden darkness sometimes came 
over the valley of the Nile when a great wind filled the 

167 



1 68 ORATORY AND POETRY 

whole heavens with a black cloud of sand from the 
desert, and we thought it might be something of that 
kind though there was no movement in the heavens, 
only the silent falling of the pall of blackness. As it 
lasted hour after hour we were more and more filled 
with awe and growing dread that God had con- 
demned us. Then there came that terrible cry from 
Jesus on the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me?" Now we understood the awful dark- 
ness; God had indeed frowned, but not upon us the 
leaders of his people, but upon Jesus. Then the dark- 
ness passed away, we were again confident, strong in 
the sunlight; but Jesus was already dead: the frown 
of God had killed him. 

So we rested in peace on the Sabbath day, you with 
us in our home and in the temple of our God, and early 
the next morning you left us for Egypt. You scarcely 
could have been out of sight of Jerusalem when a won- 
derful rumor spread through the city that Jesus had 
risen from the dead. Some of our leading men had 
heard that Jesus had said he could not be held of death 
and they had persuaded the Roman governor to seal 
the tomb and place a guard about it so that his fol- 
lowers could not possibly steal the body and then say 
he had risen from the dead. After bidding you fare- 
well at the western gate I had gone to the palace of 
the high priest and was present with several others 
when the Roman guard brought their report. Romans 
as they were, they seemed bewildered with terror; 
most of the ten men had been sleeping on the ground, 
but two had been marching to and fro before the great 
stone slab that closed the entrance into the rock 



PETER AT PENTECOST 169 

sepulchre; there had come an earthquake shock that 
woke the sleepers and they had all seen an angel, a 
being of light, and glorious strength, come down from 
heaven; he fearlessly rolled away the stone and sat 
upon it; and with a look of scorn, he cast down the 
soldiers to the ground. When they recovered, one by 
one, they fled from the tomb and came to the high 
priest. Their terror communicated itself to us, we 
saw our dismal failure, and dreaded that others should 
see it too, as soon they must. 

The next morning I was again at the palace of the 
high priest, as were many others of our leaders, in 
much trepidation but eager to hear what further news 
there might be of this marvelous event. There I met 
John, the son of Zebedee, he is a cousin of the high 
priest you know, very intimate with him and a fre- 
quent visitor at the palace. He is also an ardent be- 
liever in Jesus of Nazareth and has been very close 
to him for about three years, has followed him con- 
stantly in his journeying through Judea and Galilee 
and lived in very familiar companionship with him. 
He is, as you know, a very intelligent man of rich gifts 
of speech, charm of manner, and absolutely clear 
truthfulness of character. I know of no one I respect 
more highly or trust more implicitly, and the high 
priest has the same regard for him and confidence in 
him. We have wondered and been grieved that he 
should be a follower of Jesus and should have adopted 
his views about the kingdom of God, so different from 
ours, but we respect his sincerity and loyalty. The 
other leaders had left the palace, I remained for a 
while with the high priest when John came and was 



I70 ORATORY AND POETRY 

admitted at once to our presence. He was in much 
excitement and eager with joy. He had been in deep 
sorrow and depression the day after the crucifixion 
of Jesus: a broken, disappointed man; now he was 
elated and triumphant and he seemed confident that 
what had changed him would change us. He told us 
in his eager, graphic way of his experience of the day 
before; he had heard the rumor that Jesus was risen 
from the dead and had hastened to the tomb ; he found 
it empty : there was no sign of any violence or disorder 
or even of haste. The stone door was rolled away 
and he had entered the tomb; the grave-clothes were 
folded in order and left behind, but the body of Jesus 
was not there. During the day he had talked with 
several women of their number who, early in the 
morning, had seen two angels at the tomb who had 
told them that Jesus was risen from the dead ; later he 
spoke with Mary Magdalene, a very devoted follower 
of Jesus, who told him that she had seen and talked 
with him; and still later Peter, another of his dis- 
ciples and very intimate with John, had assured him 
that he had seen Jesus that very day alive and well. 

When evening came, John and other close followers 
of Jesus were assembled together; while they were 
eagerly talking of what they had seen and heard that 
day, two disciples who had walked from the village 
of Emmaus, came into the room and gave them a 
vivid account of their having had a long talk with 
Jesus on their way to Emmaus and of their having 
shared their evening meal with him and then he had 
vanished away from their sight : they had not recog- 
nized him until he broke bread with them, they did 



PETER AT PENTECOST 171 

not know how he had vanished from them, but they 
were sure they had seen him alive and well and had 
talked with him. Then John told us that while the 
disciples were astonished at what they had heard 
Jesus himself was present with them; how he came 
they did not know, not through the door for that was 
locked, but he was there and he spoke to them about 
the kingdom he and they were to establish ; to remove 
all possible doubt from their minds that it was he him- 
self and no other, and no mere spirit, he showed them 
his pierced hands and feet and his spear-thrust side, 
and he also ate an humble meal with them as he had 
so long been accustomed to do. John said he remained 
with them an hour or more, that he spoke as freely 
to them and moved about among them as freely as 
he had done a week before, that it was the same Jesus 
in his action, his speech, the tone of his voice, the 
look of his eyes, his whole manner and appearance and 
especially in his thoughts and feelings, in his whole 
personality. He had seen Jesus and recognized him 
as fully, and Jesus had seen him and been as close and 
familiar to him only a few hours before he was speak- 
ing to us, as he had been during the past three years. 
He knew Jesus had been dead for he had helped take 
him down from the cross and bury him, he knew that 
no man could possibly live with such a spear-thrust in 
his side. Just as certainly he knew that Jesus had 
risen from the dead, he had seen him and talked with 
him the night before, three days after his burial. 

There was something mysterious about him he ac- 
knowledged, he appeared and disappeared at will he 
still had the spear-thrust in his side, but he who was 



172 ORATORY AND POETRY 

dead lived again. 'T have seen him," he said. "I have 
heard him. I have touched him. I am sure he is the 
same Jesus I have known so long and so well. He is 
alive who was dead. He is, as he said, the Son of God. 
The grave could not hold him. He is risen from the 
dead." 

We were astonished at this story of John, the high- 
priest seemed deeply impressed and greatly alarmed. 
We could not question John's sincerity or the strength 
of his conviction. After John left us we consulted 
long together. What can be the meaning of this? 
What will the outcome be? Can it be possible that 
Jesus was more than human, that God had sent him 
to teach about his kingdom, that God approved of 
him? Then what meant the darkness at the cruci- 
fixion, was it God's frown upon us ? But what meant 
that despairing cry of Jesus upon the cross ? We were 
bewildered and in great trepidation. Was it possible 
that we had sent the Lord's Christ to the cross ? Was 
it possible that he had risen from the dead? What 
would he do now? What would happen next? We 
could only wait and see. 

As we waited day after day our apprehension in- 
creased and spread through the whole city. Days 
would pass when we heard nothing ; but the silence was 
oppressive, it awakened expectation of some mys- 
terious presence, of some impending event that could 
not be guarded against or warded off, that must come 
upon us. 

Thus from one and another intimate friend of Jesus 
would come an account of another meeting with him 
who had risen from the dead, sometimes he had been 



PETER AT PENTECOST 173 

seen by a large number at a time, and always they were 
sure it was Jesus who had met with them, and always 
he had spoken to them of the kingdom he was to estab- 
lish among men. 

But there was always the same mystery about him, 
he appeared without warning, unexpectedly, and he 
vanished from their sight in the same mysterious way ; 
and none of them could tell where he abode when they 
did not see him, no one could tell how to meet him 
or where. He might meet them at any time or in 
any place but it altogether depended upon his will. 
So his followers came to feel that he might be present 
with them though they could not see him, and that 
he might at any time appear to them and speak to 
them. This feeling of a mysterious presence and of 
an impending appearance spread among the people 
generally so the whole city became oppressed with it; 
and it especially took possession of our hearts who had 
led the people to crucify him. The followers of Jesus, 
while they were awed by the all-pervading feeling in 
their hearts, seemed to long for his appearance and for 
further instruction about the kingdom; but we, who 
had opposed his kingdom and had crucified him, 
dreaded with an ever-increasing fear his suddenly ap- 
pearing to us. 

About ten days ago the most marvelous thing oc- 
curred so marvelous that we would not find it possible 
to believe it had we not been assured by the witnessing 
of men in whom we have confidence, the followers 
of Jesus who had already told of his being alive from 
the dead, and now, especially, by the evidence given 
us by two members of our highest court. You re- 



174 ORATORY AND POETRY 

member there were two members of the court who 
opposed sentencing Jesus to death, and after his death 
these two men took charge largely of his burial ; they 
were believers in Jesus and in his kingdom. These 
two honorable members of our court, Joseph of 
Arimathea and Nicodemus, some ten days ago were 
with many other followers of Jesus when he met them 
in this city ; he had a long and very intimate talk with 
them about his kingdom; they asked him many ques- 
tions, he gave them very clear answers. He told them 
they were to stay in Jerusalem until they received 
power from God from heaven and that then they were 
to establish his kingdom here in Jerusalem and in all 
Judea, after that in Samaria and even to the uttermost 
parts of the earth. He assured them that he was the 
promised Messiah, the great King, and that his king- 
dom was to begin in Jerusalem but was to spread his 
rule over all nations, that it was for all mankind. He 
then led them out of the city towards Bethany and 
when they had reached the brow of the Mount of 
Olives he paused, and while he still talked with them 
in loving counsel, and while they looked upon him with 
adoring gaze, he lifted up his hands and blessed them, 
and as he blessed them he slowly rose from the earth 
and as they looked he ascended into the heavens and 
a cloud received him out of their sight. Now as they 
looked up steadfastly into heaven two angels in shining 
apparel stood by them and said, 'This same Jesus 
which has just been received up into heaven shall so 
come in like manner as ye beheld him going into 
heaven." 

These ten days have been filled with an intense ex- 



PETER AT PENTECOST 175 

pectation, the whole city has been possessed by it; 
ordinary affairs have of course gone on as usual, as 
they must always do, but there has been little interest 
in them. The followers of Jesus have been waiting 
and longing for the promised power from God, for 
the promised return of Jesus from heaven, and for 
the triumphant establishment of his kingdom. The 
people generally and especially we, the leaders of the 
people, have been waiting with dread for some awful 
manifestation of God's wrath. Our confidence that 
we were right in sentencing Jesus to death has been 
displaced by a terrible fear that we have crucified the 
God-appointed King and that he will come to inflict 
his sentence upon us. Now this morning the expected 
has happened but in such a strange way that I can 
hardly describe it. There has been a great concourse 
of people in the temple courts at the close of the morn- 
ing's sacrifice, and the most intense excitement, people 
swayed by a vast power to strange unheard-of actions. 
I have witnessed the most wonderful events and have 
been swept along by them, I have just heard the most 
thrilling oration ever uttered,"^ I am sure, and have 
been swayed by its mysterious power and have wit- 
nessed its stupendous effects. 

It seems many followers of Jesus were assembled 
early this morning in their usual place in the temple 
and were praying to God to give them power to estab- 
lish his kingdom when there was a sound of a rushing, 
mighty wind from heaven and an appearance of 
tongues of fire resting upon each one of them and they 
were all filled with a mysterious force that impelled 

♦ The Acts, 2d chapter. 



176 ORATORY AND POETRY 

them to speak the praises of God in proclaiming his 
kingdom. The multitude of the people assembling for 
the morning sacrifice heard the sound of the rushing 
wind from heaven and saw the tongues of fire upon the 
brows of these men, and they quickly gathered about 
them and were amazed at their courage, enthusiasm 
and gifts of speech; the most wonderful thing of all 
was that the men of different nations, for there were 
many such assembled at the feast, heard these men 
who proclaimed the kingdom of God each speak in his 
own language wherein he was born. All the followers 
of Jesus seemed to share equally the marvelous power 
from on high, and each one seemed qualified to speak 
in the needed tongue of the nation he addressed : the 
message of the kingdom was thereby addressed to all 
men of all nations equally for the kingdom was pro- 
claimed for all mankind. 

While there were a few among the followers of 
Jesus who were of the upper ranks, the leaders of the 
people, the large number of them were rude, uncul- 
tured men, peasants from Galilee, the lower class of 
people, but they all shared alike in this mysterious 
power : Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus and the 
slaves from their households alike had this gift from 
God. We, the leaders of the people, had always 
thought we were appointed of God to be above the 
mass of the people, to rule over and to lead them 
in rehgion and in all the affairs of life, to live in the 
ease and enjoyment of luxury and to move in the lofty 
realm of thought, while the common people were to 
labor with their hands and to be content if they had 
the necessaries of life. We had instinctively felt that 



PETER AT PENTECOST 177 

the kingdom of God that Jesus was trying to establish 
would overthrow our leadership not only but would 
lift up the lower ranks of life in a gradual development 
of their powers, would give them self-respect and a 
regard for the rights of all that would make them 
above the need of our leadership. This increased and 
intensified our antagonism to Jesus until we had him 
crucified by the Romans; we thought in this we were 
advancing and protecting our God-given rights, that 
God was with us ; and the Romans, who acted with us, 
had the same instinctive opposition to Jesus from their 
position of leadership in worldly power. Then came 
the resurrection of Christ and our dreadful fear that 
God condemned us; now this wonderful power from 
on high was given to form this new kingdom. The 
excitement was almost overpowering for most of us 
felt awe in the presence of this gift so evidently from 
God and were greatly perplexed by the position in 
which it placed us ; though there were some who tried 
to account for the enthusiasm of the followers of Jesus 
by saying they were full of new wine. 

At last Peter, a special friend of Jesus, one who 
had been intimate with him during the years of his 
public life of teaching, stood upon the platform in 
the court of the temple and with a loud voice called 
all the people to listen to him. His is the oration I 
must describe to you. 

He spoke from the first as if his power came from 
God and he simply poured it out upon our minds and 
hearts with the utmost conviction and confidence that 
it would take possession of us and fully control us, as 
it controlled him. 



178 ORATORY AND POETRY 

He was a tall and powerful looking man, clothed in 
the garb of the common people, evidently one of them; 
he had a ringing, far-reaching voice, a flashing eye, 
and much animation of manner. He roused our at- 
tention at once, then held us spellbound by his earnest, 
sincere effort to show all of us the meaning of the 
marvelous experience we were having. 'These men 
and women," he said, "as you all know, are the fol- 
lowers of Jesus of Nazareth. They are possessed, as 
you see, with a vast, mysterious power. This power is 
not that of new wine, you recognize that explanation 
as absurd, impossible. What is it then, that these com- 
mon people, uncultured, uneducated, should suddenly 
be raised to this lofty plane of speaking and acting? 
There is absolutely but one way of accounting for it. 
This is the fulfillment of God's promise to you by his 
prophet Joel, that he would pour out his Spirit upon 
all flesh. Consider how Joel describes this gift, and 
how that which you are witnessing exactly corresponds 
to his description : your sons and your daughters shall 
prophesy, and you witness it : not a few, not here and 
there one, a learned man, a scribe, a pharisee, a priest 
has been made a prophet; but all the followers of 
Jesus, the humblest as well as the highest, all your sons 
and daughters who follow him, all flesh. Your young 
men see visions, your old men dream dreams; yea, 
even the slaves, the bondmen and bondmaidens, upon 
them will I pour my Spirit and they shall prophesy. 
And God declares that he will overturn in the heavens 
above and among the powers of the earth, working 
such changes among the nations in establishing his 
kingdom in the earth, and that whosoever shall call 



PETER AT PENTECOST 179 

upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The king- 
dom is not for any particular class nor for any par- 
ticular race, it is for all men, whosoever will call upon 
the name of the Lord. These followers of Jesus have 
the spirit of God and they, as you all witness, are 
prophesying, are proclaiming the kingdom among 
men." 

Then this common man Peter, with quiet courage, 
earnestness, and absolute faithfulness to his Lord and 
his mission, turned to us, the leaders of the people and 
to those we had led, and charged us with the death 
of Jesus. "You know, ye men of Israel, that God 
approved of Jesus of Nazareth by mighty works and 
wonders and signs, yet you, in the face of such knowl- 
edge, have taken him and crucified him. But God has 
raised him from the dead; of this your great king, 
David spoke, not of himself, for as you know he is 
dead and buried and his tomb is with us to this day, 
but of one greater even than he, that God would raise 
him from the dead. Not only did God raise Jesus 
from the dead but he has exalted him to his right hand. 
David has not ascended into heaven but he said, 'The 
Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand 
until I make thine enemies thy footstool.' Let all the 
house of Israel know therefore that God hath made 
this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. 
This Lord and Christ, exalted at the right hand of 
God in heaven, hath poured forth his Spirit upon his 
followers as ye see and hear.'' 

We were not only swayed by this speech of Peter, 
we were crushed by it. We felt that, in our proud 
and arrogant resistance of Jesus of Nazareth, we had 



i8o ORATORY AND POETRY 

resisted God; that we had blindly and wickedly re- 
jected the great Teacher sent from God ; that we had, 
in our desperate sinfulness, crucified the Son of God, 
our promised Messiah, our divine King. There was 
no possibility of evading the charge, there was no 
possibility of finding any justification or excuse, there 
was no possibility of flying from the just indignation 
of him who was exalted at the right hand of God, 
there was no possibility of escaping the wrath of God 
against our guilt. Strong men, conscience-stricken, 
broke down; proud leaders of the people came to these 
humble followers of Jesus for counsel and help; phari- 
sees, priests, as well as the mass of the people came to 
them saying, ''Brethren, brethren, what shall we do?'' 

Now Peter with his companions, while triumphantly 
vindicated in their loyalty to Christ, had a brotherly 
feeling toward us, the conscience-stricken. He ex- 
horted us to repent and to trust in Jesus as our Lord 
and King ; he promised us that w^e should be welcomed 
into the kingdom and should share in the outpouring 
of the Holy Spirit to qualify us to spread this kingdom 
in the whole earth. 

Wonderful has been the change wrought in me and 
in many others by this great speech of Peter. I, who 
when you were here a few weeks ago enlisted your 
help in bringing Jesus of Nazareth to the Roman cross, 
now write this full account of my change that I may 
enlist you also to become the follower with me of him 
who was raised from the dead, who is exalted at the 
right hand of God, who has poured out his Spirit upon 
his disciples. I beseech of you to own him who is the 
rightful King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE STORY OF A GREAT ORATION BY THE 
APOSTLE PAUL 

A Letter from Dionysius the Areopagite to 
Aristobulus^ a Nobleman in Rome 

You probably have still fresh in mind some of the 
impressions Athens made upon you when, recently, 
you spent a few days with me upon your return from 
the province of Macedonia of which you had been the 
governor for several years. You remember the groves 
of philosophy and some of the questions we heard 
discussed by the various schools of the Epicureans 
and the Stoics. You remember the many temples and 
statues of the gods in the city and how devout the 
great numbers of the people were, often contending 
for the worth of the many gods of our inheritance, 
while a few stood aloof in proud disdain. You re- 
member the great market-place where large numbers 
of our citizens gathered to hear the news or to hear 
great causes advocated by our orators. You remember 
how our city, beautiful for situation, had been adorned 
by the genius of many artists through past ages with 
magnificent buildings and splendid statues. You re- 
member how you were impressed by the eager intel- 
lectual life throbbing here, and by the taste for beauty 
and culture which abounded among the guests I gath- 

i8i 



i82 ORATORY AND POETRY 

ered to meet you in my palace. Now I write to tell 
you of a most eloquent oration that I recently heard 
and of the great change it has wrought in my life. 

I think I told you how our highest court is composed 
and of its jurisdiction. When one has served as 
Archon or ruler of Athens for one year and his admin- 
istration has been entirely for the good of the city 
and his private life has been without reproach, he be- 
comes a member of the Court of the Areopagus for 
life. I have been a member of this court for the past 
seven years and there are now associated with me 
fifteen others who have attained this high honor and 
important office. There have been but few Archons in 
our history who have not stood this test, and they have 
been driven into obscurity by their greed and corrup- 
tion. 

For many hundred years this court has been the 
highest in Greece; it has had jurisdiction not only over 
the affairs of Athens but questions have been sub- 
mitted to it from the other states of Greece and from 
other nations. Since you Romans have conquered 
Greece and all other nations our jurisdiction has been 
limited to Athens itself, but your government has 
recognized and upheld our court as worthy of the high 
honor of supremacy here. 

One of the great questions to be decided by this 
court is that of religion. What new feature of a reli- 
gion or what new kind of religion shall be permitted 
in Athens must be finally decided by our court. Re- 
cently a man called Paul, the apostle or sent-messenger 
of Jesus Christ, has been publicly proclaiming the reli- 
gion of Christ in the city and has awakened such an 



PAUL IN ATHENS 183 

interest in it that some of the philosophers and leading 
men called together the Court of the Areopagus and 
brought him before us. Our meeting-place is on the 
top of Mars' Hill, where a large space has been cut 
out, in the solid rock, nearly circular in form. In this 
open space the suitors gather before the court, which 
sits upon the bench hewn from the rock. The sky is 
the only roof. The magnificence and stir of the city 
is at a distance, amid bare surroundings the court is 
lifted up into the silence of the sky; it there hears and 
decides its cases. There are no buildings or statues 
upon Mars' Hill but the associations of the place are 
very stimulating, there for many hundred years our 
court has heard its important cases, and there, in the 
beginning of our history and the history of our gods, 
occurred the great trial of Mars himself before the 
many gods, his peers, when he was charged by Nep- 
tune with the murder of his son. Mars was acquitted 
by the gods since the killing of the son of Neptune had 
been done in battle, in honorable warfare; and so the 
hill itself bears his name since he was vindicated in 
the first great trial held there. Sometimes our court 
holds its session in the night-time in order that the 
judges may not be swayed by the personal bearing of 
the suitor and especially may not be charmed by his 
art, the action perhaps of a fine orator, but may decide 
dispassionately upon the clear statements made before 
them. 

In this case the court was called to meet two hours 
after sunset. Those who had heard Paul speak in the 
marketplace said that a large part of his persuasive 
power was due to the evident fact that his cause had 



i84 ORATORY AND POETRY 

full possession of him, it expressed itself not only in 
the words he uttered but, in his great emotion, it shone 
in his face and flashed from his eyes, it swayed his 
body and called forth the most stirring gestures so 
that the whole man was filled with the eloquence of 
his message. In order that the court might judge dis- 
passionately on such an important matter it was 
deemed best that we should not be too much under 
the spell of such an orator. Some of my own friends 
and a few of the most intelligent slaves of my house- 
hold had been persuaded to accept this new religion, 
and their description of the advocate showed me that 
much of his influence came from his personality, as 
much, perhaps more, than from the reasonableness of 
his message. 

On this occasion I went to our place of meeting by 
way of the Acropolis. You remember this hill back 
of our city is splendidly adorned with temples and 
statues and the walks through the groves have all the 
charm that nature and art can give them. As I left 
the market-place and, by the broadest avenue of the 
city, approached the hill I caught a glimpse of the 
bright, golden spear-head of the colossal statue of 
Athene, the masterpiece of our greatest sculptor, 
Phidias, which stands near the summit. This spear- 
head can be seen far out at sea by the sailors returning 
from their voyages of adventure or profit, and this 
evening it had caught the last rays of the setting sun 
and flashed in my eyes for a few minutes and then was 
lost among the tree-tops. As I, climbing the hill, 
passed through the groves and by the many statues 
and temples, I was impressed as so often before by 



PAUL IN ATHENS 185 

our splendid history, by the stories of gods and men 
in their struggles for place and power from the early 
beginnings of time. Then before me, crowning the 
hill, appeared the Parthenon, that great temple to 
Minerva, builded during the golden period of our his- 
tory, by Pericles one of our most gifted sons. In 
perfect proportions and made of the softly glowing 
Pentelic marble, this is the finest piece of architecture 
in all the world. 

And as I looked I thought again of that great battle 
of the gods fought here before the city was built. 
Neptune, the god of the stormy seas conquering the 
earth, and Minerva, goddess of peaceful lands adorn- 
ing the earth, fought to decide which should be the 
builder and patron of the future city. Athene, the 
victor gave her name to the city and our world- famed 
Parthenon is fittingly dedicated to Athene Minerva, 
the goddess of wisdom. Surely he who is a member 
of the highest court of Athens should be wise to hear 
and to decide upon the causes coming before it. I 
then passed on down the hill, crossed the narrow, shal- 
low valley, climbed the hill of Mars and took my seat 
on the stone bench of the court of the Areopagus. 
It was yet early and I was for a little while alone. I 
could hear the faint murmur of the city, lying at the 
feet of the two hills, growing fainter as the evening 
advanced. I could see the outlines of the Parthenon, 
standing out against the evening sky, growing indis- 
tinct as the evening shadows gathered and the night 
took possession of the earth. Soon the heavens were 
filled with stars; what were they, those bodies of light 
filling the dark heavens; were they the dwelling-places 



i86 ORATORY AND POETRY * 

of the gods when they wearied of the mountain-tops 
and the groves and the streams and the seas of the 
earth, when they grew tired of the ways of mankind 
and withdrew to their homes of Hght and looked down 
upon the remote earth and its Httle doings? Surely 
the gods were not merely of the far-gone past, they 
were present now and must be greatly interested as 
our court was about to hear the claims of a new^ reli- 
gion to the favor of our city. 

As the hour approached my colleagues gathered and 
took their places, not one w^as missing, and the dark- 
ness and silence of night covered Mars' Hill. 

Then we saw a number of dim figures gathering in 
the open space before us, the leading men of the city 
had brought Paul to plead his cause ; and one of them, 
in a few well-chosen words, craved from us a patient 
hearing of what he called the most remarkable claim 
that had ever been presented to our court. 

There were several things about the great orator and 
his wonderful oration* that, from the first word, 
impressed me with ever-increasing power. We could 
not see him, except vaguely as standing on a platform 
a little above the others ; we could not discern whether 
he were tall or short, heavy or Hght, straight or 
crooked, we could not see his face whether noble or 
marred, we could not see the pose of his body nor the 
gestures he made, only that he moved actively ; but we 
could hear his voice w^ithout missing a single word or 
a single tone, a wonderful voice that stirred thought 
and feeling, that set all the fibers of our being tingling 
with its varied power, we were at once under its spell. 

• The Acts 17. 16-34. 



PAUL IN ATHENS 187 

While this spell increased as he went on with his 
oration we no longer thought of it or of him at all 
but only of what he said. Then there grew upon us 
the impression that he was not so much arguing a 
cause before a court to gain our favorable verdict to 
permit him to proclaim it in the city, as that he was 
trying to persuade each one of us to believe in his 
cause; he was trying to pour his conviction, his emo- 
tion into our minds and hearts to turn us away from 
all our inherited beliefs and life-long practices and to 
believe and act with him in accepting the new religion. 
The very boldness of his effort won our admiration. 
Not only did he make this attempt but he seemed 
assured that he would accomplish it ; he had such con- 
fidence in the truth of what he spoke that he was sure 
intelligent, fair-minded men listening to him would 
accept it ; and that such men, at whatever cost to them- 
selves, would act according to their new convictions. 
While this impression grew upon us to the very end 
of his oration, while we lost sight of him in the cause 
he so earnestly advocated to change our convictions 
and our lives, there grew upon my mind at least, this 
further feeling, that some one was speaking through 
him. It was a strange and awe-impelling feeling : that 
some god other than Athene Minerva of the Par- 
thenon, other than Mars who had plead the first cause 
on this hill-top, that some other god, perhaps the god 
of the overhanging stars was speaking through Paul 
and was demanding of me my allegiance. This feeling 
once awakened in me grew until it took possession of 
me. I could not divest myself of it. I had to yield 
to it. This greatest orator I have ever heard lost him- 



i88 ORATORY AND POETRY 

self in his cause, then gave the impression that he was 
the mouth-piece of a person, a God speaking through 
him, and as such he boldly demanded my full and 
prompt allegiance. The oration was long; it fully 
treated all the important subjects it touched, and most 
satisfactorily treated them, not ignoring or hiding a 
single difficulty; it was midnight before we went down 
the hill to our homes, and yet it seemed but a fleeting 
moment. 

At the very beginning, without the least attempt at 
compliment, he acknowledged our attainments and our 
high qualities. What higher title could he give us : 
he addressed us as '"'Men of Athens" ? What higher 
nature could he ascribe to us : 'T see ye are very reli- 
gious"? He then spoke of the many temples and 
statues in our city and of the many gods we wor- 
shipped. Thus he came to the main subject of his 
oration and we began to see his real object as well. 
*T see you are not satisfied with these many gods for 
you have an altar to An Unknown God, I want to 
speak to you of that unknown God and to win your 
worship for him." 

From that time on he spoke as if there were no 
other gods ; he lifted the unknown God so high in our 
thoughts that there was no need, no possible place for 
any other god; this God had made the earth and the 
heavens and all there was in existence and he was the 
ever-present, ever-ruling Lord of all. 

This lofty thought of God had full possession of 
Paul, his mind and heart had no place for any other 
god and he spoke in such eloquent terms of the God 
over all, the God of self-existence, of vast creative 



PAUL IN ATHENS 189 

power, of wide, iall-embracing dominion, that our 
minds and hearts were fascinated with the vision. 
Having given us this splendid thought of the one su- 
preme God, he showed us with marvelous eloquence 
how we could not make any temple worthy to be his 
dwelling-place, the whole earth itself would not be 
great enough for him, the whole star-gemmed heavens 
would not be a roof for his temple, had he himself not 
made both earth and sky? The only temple for this 
supreme, all-creating, all-ruling God was the mind and 
heart of man. He had made all men, not only the men 
of Athens in our wide attainments and high culture, 
but men of all nations on the face of the earth and 
had given them this distinctive nature : that they should 
seek after this one God who had given them life and 
being, after their Source, their Father, the Father of 
their spirits. He said, "Some of your own writers 
that I have read have caught a glimpse of this great 
truth: that you are the offspring of God. Your reli- 
gious nature shows you are akin to the great Spirit, 
the supreme God. You have been searching for him ; 
your splendid hill encrusted with temples and altars 
and statues shows how you have searched for him; 
but you have not yet found him though he is near to 
every one of you, for he is the ever-present Spirit in 
whom we all live and move and have our being." 

He then very frankly and fully described the way 
in which we had gone astray. "Ye have been seeking 
this unknown God but ye have looked too intently at 
the material creation about you ; ye have imagined that 
he had a form, that by your art ye could carve him in 
gold or silver or stone ; ye have devised gods like your- 



I90 ORATORY AND POETRY 

selves in form and action; ye have lost sight of your 
own spiritual nature: that it is your spirits that are 
by their nature seeking God and it is only as ye look 
back of, beyond all material forms, that ye will be able 
to find your Source, your Father, himself a Spirit. 
Ye have degraded yourself and debased the Father of 
your spirits by creating your statues with your high 
ideals of beautiful forms and then worshipping these 
works of your hands as if they represented various 
gods of beauty or strength, alas, also of lust and war. 
God, the God I proclaim to you, has been greatly 
grieved by your thus debasing yourselves and degrad- 
ing him, but he has been very patient with you and 
has sought you with great eagerness, and now he com- 
mands you to repent of all this wrong-thinking and 
wrong-feeling toward him." 

He then spoke to us with great conviction and deep 
feeling that this unknown God had made himself fully 
and unmistakably known, that this great, ever-present, 
all-powerful, unseen Spirit back of all forms in nature 
had made himself clearly revealed in Jesus Christ. He 
claimed that Jesus Christ was God revealed in the flesh, 
that he was revealed not only in bodily form as we 
had imagined some of our gods to have become incar- 
nate, but in the very spirit of man. He then fully 
and vividly described the life and teachings of Jesus 
Christ: how he had taught about God and man, and 
how, especially, he had lived showing us the nature of 
God, a just God requiring man to live rightly, and 
also a merciful God helping man to recover himself 
from his debasement ; showing us also how each man 
should live a life of trust and love toward God and 



PAUL IN ATHENS 191 

toward his fellow-man. This Jesus Christ he set be- 
fore us with such eloquence that he seemed to be in 
our presence and we eagerly admired him for his lofty 
teaching and splendid life. Then, almost overwhelmed 
by his feelings, he described how his own countrymen 
had hated Jesus Christ because he claimed to be the 
Son of God, and had persuaded the Romans to crucify 
him. But with eager triumph in his voice he told us 
that God had raised him from the dead, and that the 
risen Christ had sent him to preach this religion to all 
men in all the world. He then again called us to repent, 
to turn from our wrong views and actions towards 
God and man and to become the followers of Jesus 
Christ since God would strictly judge us according to 
this righteousness. 

When he ceased speaking the silence of the night 
wrapped us round, the stillness of the stars looked 
down upon us. For awhile we lost sight of ourselves 
as the great court of the Areopagus trying a case on 
the hill of Mars and we, ourselves, seemed to be suitors 
in a higher court, being tried for our whole lives before 
Jesus Christ, the Judge, the Son of God, the Risen- 
f rom-the-dead, while the mysterious stars awaited his 
decision, sealing our destiny. 

But this soon passed away; some of our members 
began to mock at the idea of any man ever having been 
raised from the dead; others said, "let us hear him 
again"; so this was the decision given to Paul: "we 
will hear thee again on this matter," and the session of 
the court ended at midnight. 

As for me, that night as I returned from Mars' Hill, 
as I had a few hours before approached it, by way of 



192 ORATORY AND POETRY 

the Parthenon and the splendid hill of the Acropolis, 
I could not divest myself of the conviction that Paul 
had spoken the truth and that I must yield myself to 
the truth and become the follower of Jesus Christ : that 
all these splendid statues and temples were in vain, 
that Athene Minerva herself was only a vain im- 
agination of man, and that the one great God revealed 
in Jesus Christ was the only true God. 

In this conviction I still abide and it has taken full 
possession of my soul. I am now a confessed follower 
of Jesus Christ and am trying to live in his way, the 
way he taught and lived. I used to look upon my 
slaves as a lower race of beings, some of my slaves 
have also become followers of Jesus Christ, and I now 
regard them with a far-different feeling, indeed, I 
regard all slaves as my fellow-men. I used to look 
upon other nations as far beneath the Greeks, they 
were barbarians to me ; I see a wide difference still in 
many ways, but I now regard them as my fellow-men. 
You may remember that some of the women of our 
city of highest culture were loose in their morals and 
were despised by noble men; I do not despise any of 
them now but would lift them up in purity of life, 
some of them have become followers of Jesus Christ 
with us and have become pure women. I used to look 
upon you Romans as hated conquerors who had taken 
away our place and nation, though some I regarded as 
my friends and recognized as truly noble, as I count 
you my friend; but now I am thinking and feeling 
toward our Roman conquerors, as to all other nation- 
alities, as my fellow-men all made of one blood, all 
the offspring of the one God revealed in Jesus Christ. 



PAUL IN ATHENS 193 

I used to think of the gods as many and as often hav- 
ing evil passions and evil lives, and as often being in 
conflict, often injuring men; but now I know there are 
no such gods, that there is only one true God who has 
made me a spirit and made my nature to seek after 
him, and now I am satisfied I have found him in Jesus 
Christ and I am trying to live a righteous life like his. 
So I write you this letter, not only to tell you of this 
wonderful oration of the Apostle Paul that I heard 
a few weeks ago on Mars' Hill, but with the hope that 
you will become with me a follower of Jesus Christ. 



PART III 
THE POETRY OF THE BIBLE 



CHAPTER XII 
THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF POETRY 

The birth of poetry seems to have been on this 
wise. The family or tribe is gathered before the 
tent at close of day. A member returns and in great 
excitement tells of some strange adventure. His sen- 
tences are short, measured by intense feeling. The 
excitement spreads. Some one repeats a striking 
sentence, and others take it up in song, perhaps with 
some instrument of music. The enthusiasm grows, 
and he who tells the story and they who hear begin 
to describe by acting the main features of the adven- 
ture, and the measured step of march or dance soon 
becomes prominent in this general acting. According 
to the nature of the story it may end in a burst of 
popular frolic or in an act of solemn worship. As 
the monotonous days pass on this story of exciting ad- 
venture is repeated time and time again until it be- 
comes enshrined in the memory and is ready on the 
lip of all. 

The most ancient bit of this primitive poetry found 
in the Bible is in the fourth chapter of Genesis, it is 
called the Song of the Sword. 

Lamech calls for attention — 

"Adah and Zillah hear my voice 
Ye wives of Lamech hearken to my speech." 

197 



198 OR.\TORY AND POETRY 

He tells the story — 

"For I have slain a man for wounding me 
And a young man for bruising me." 

He is confident of the justice of his cause — 

"If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold 
Surely Lamech seventy and sevenfold." 

In this spontaneous rise of poetry there is a com- 
bination of stor}% music and imitative gesture. 

Kinds of Poetry 

In the development of poetry the progress is along 
the line of one or other of these three elements. If 
it is along the line of verse, the short measured sen- 
tences of the story-teller, we shall have Epic Poetry. 
The music and acting are mere accessories, they may 
be present or absent, the main element is the story 
told by the poet. The earliest development was prob- 
ably along this line. The blind story-teller in ancient 
Greece pictured scenes of heroism that stir the heart 
of mankind in all times and climes. In the middle 
ages the minstrel found a ready audience in the hall 
of the Castle during the long winter evenings. Thus 
epic poetry grows and great epics are formed. 

There are no epic poems' in the Bible, though there 
are stories told in prose which have the epic ring and 
some end in epic songs. The story of Joseph with its 
vicissitudes of fortune, of David with its heroism and 
great deeds, of Daniel with his daring and success, are 
epic in spirit though not in form. Still as Hebrew 



BIBLE POETRY 199 

poetry is not widely divided in form from intense prose 
we can find little fault in Goethe for calling ''Ruth the 
loveliest specimen of Epic poetry we possess." 

If the main attention is paid to the element of imi- 
tative action we shall have Dramatic Poetry, It is 
not description but presentation, the poet does not 
tell the story, he brings the actors upon the scene and 
they speak for themselves. The Drama is acted 
poetry. The Opera is the drama with musical ex- 
pression. The development along this line waits upon 
the congregation of men in great cities. It is poetry 
for large audiences who are to be impressed by scenes 
and action as well as by words. 

The nearest approach to dramatic poetry in the 
Bible is the Book of Job, considered in Chapter XIV. 

The Rhapsodies of the Prophets are spiritualized 
dramas, — no persons are seen, — but the air is full of 
voices, voices of Earth and Sky, voices of the Nations, 
the voice of God. The oratory of the prophets is 
often poetic and frequently dramatic. 

If the main attention is paid to music we shall have 
Lyric Poetry. It need not be the music of instrument 
or of voice in song but the musical thought, the deep 
harmonies of Nature's many voices caught by the 
sensitive soul of the poet and voiced by him for kin- 
dred souls. The poet singing alone ; the poet singing in 
the family with choice spirits ; the poet singing in the 
Temple leading the praises of God, this is the lofty 
sphere of highest poetry. The story telling Epic, the 
imitative Drama are left far below, and the pure 
spirit of poetry looks out upon the face of nature and 
up into the face of God, and sings. In the progress of 



200 ORATORY AND POETRY 

poetry the development of the Lyric was probably 
slowest and latest, as it is most difficult and requires 
the greatest genius. The Epic concerns itself with 
the description of action. The Dramatic with the 
presentation of the actors, while the Lyric reflects 
upon the reality of things, the truth back of all action. 
/^ The Bible is peculiarly rich in Lyrical poetry. It 
is of this poetry that Milton says "There are no songs 
comparable to the songs of Zion." In lofty thought, 
rich feeling and beautiful form they excel among the 
songs of mankind. Many of these lyrics seem to have 
been the result of long meditation and careful skill, 
to have been prepared with clear purpose and much 
artistic effort. Others seem to have been born of the 
occasion, the free and unpremeditated outburst of great 
genius. The burning thought and singing word 
springing from the brain and heart of the poet may 
have been as great a surprise to him as they are a 
delight to the world. 

One of the most brilliant and famous poems of 
our own day is a lyric of this kind. Rudyard Kip- 
ling's Recessional. He says of it, "I did not write it. 
It wrote itself." The Navies of England gathered 
in review at the Queen's Jubilee and then sailed away. 
All parts of the great Empire sent their pomp and 
power to do her honor; the Nations of the world 
sent their representatives to her feet; then all the 
glorious scene vanished. But the vision was pictured 
in the soul of a great genius; he saw beyond the 
glory of it all, the real meaning, and the great song 
has the deep religious feeling of a Bible Poet. It is 
said that Kipling did not know how great it was, its 



BIBLE POETRY 201 

spontaneousness and timeliness blinded him as to its 
worth, and he threw it into the waste basket. But his 
wife rescued it and gave it to the world, and the world 
will not soon forget it. 

Psalm 46 may be compared in spirit and form with 
the Recessional, the occasion which gave it birth may- 
have been the great invasion of Sennacherib, and it 
may be called the Song of Deliverance. There are 
three strophes equal in six parallels, each having a 
refrain. 

The action is crowded into the second strophe. 

The city is described in the smooth flowing terms of 
peace and security. 

"There is a river the streams whereof make glad the city 
of God." 

The enemy gathering in eager angry haste compels 
the cry of alarm. 

"The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved." 

God's deliverance is easy, speedy and complete as 
by a flash of lightning. 

"He uttered his voice, the earth melted." 

Then follows the refrain of praise and confidence. 

"The Lord of hosts is with us 
The God of Jacob is our refuge." 

The refrain is the basis of Kipling's, though to him 
is to be credited the telling addition, *'Lest we forget," 
and even this sounds like an echo from the plains of 
Moab, the great poet of to-day catching up the words 
of Moses the great law-giver in his farewell orations. 



202 ORATORY AND POETRY 

Nature of Poetry 
/ Concerning the nature of Bible poetry it may be said, 
that God is its inspiring theme. Goethe says, *What 
a glorious poem it would be to see how the world 
mirrors itself in a great soul/' The poet catches the 
thought of God in his universe and reflects it in his 
song. Matthew Arnold says "poetry is the most per- 
fect speech of man, that in which he comes nearest 
to being able to utter the truth," that is, the inner 
reality of things. Poetry is the greatest of the arts, 
it has the power more than any other to image forth 
the universe to the mind and heart of man. ''What 
an imagination God has," says Tennyson. The poet 
sees God in his universe, discerns God's plan, the ideal 
world, of which the real is only the shadow. Banish 
God from the universe and the charm is gone, the 
life and glory have departed, it gives no vision, it 
awakens no song, it can have no poet. It is a fine 
saying of Emerson, 

"In the mud and scum of things 
Something always, always sings." 

If this is true of the mud, much more of the flower 
and the star. No treatise on the Sublime could afford 
to leave out the first verse of Genesis, "In the begin- 
ning God created the heaven and the earth." Jean 
Paul Richter says ''the greatest thought of the finite 
is the Infinite." Without this there can be no poetry. 
The thought of God is the most sublime and fruitful 
of thoughts. And this loftiest thought colors and 
measures all lower thoughts. 

Seeing the heart of things and voicing the vision 



BIBLE POETRY 203 

in song is true poetry. The imaginative reproduction 
of the universe as revealing God, of all being, all 
beauty, all truth the source and end, this is Bible 
poetry. So the true poet is simply the seer and the 
voice, nature shines and sings through him. True 
poems sing themselves, they escape as unconsciously 
from the essence of earth and air as the scent from 
the violet or the music from the bird. Emerson says 
"The free winds told him what they knew." The 
surging life of humanity becomes self-conscious in the 
poet, he sings the ''still sad music of mankind"; the 
wide universe sings through him, it is the song of 
earth and star; God speaks through him, and the 
poet is prophet as well. The poet is rapt, the truth 
discloses itself to him dressed in a word garb of 
supernatural beauty. God in the poet enables him to 
see God in everything. The Bible poet often seems 
inspired in a higher degree than other poets so that 
he sings more clearly and fully of God, and in many 
instances in an entirely different manner so that he 
voices a special message from God. 

The element of poetry is very large in the Bible. 
The Books of Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Song of Songs, 
and Lamentations are entirely poetical. The line 
between poetry and rhetoric being less sharply marked 
in the Hebrew than in our English literature, the 
great orations of the Prophets not infrequently rise 
into poetic strains. In the historic books also a vivid 
story sometimes bursts forth from prose into poetry. 
He who has the poetic ear will also gladly recognize 
that many of the sayings of Christ are gems of poetry, 
radiant with beauty and ringing with music. 



204 ORATORY AND POETRY 

Form of Poetry 
Hebrew poetry has a form of its own in which it 
finely expresses the sublimity and independence of 
its spirit. While measured syllables in rhyme are not 
absent they do not abound in the Bible. The rhythm 
of its poetry is not that of words but of thought. 
Perhaps it may be said that deeper than all the rhythm 
of art is that of nature which art would fain catch. 
Poetry tries to catch it in measured syllable and in 
rhyme, the beat of time and musical note, and some- 
times loses the subtler rhythm of thought. The 
Hebrew poets in subordinating form to thought come 
nearer to Nature's heart and echo the music of its 
surging heart beats. Bible poetry by its picturesque- 
ness addresses the eye, each poem is a gallery of word 
pictures, by its simple natural* harmony it addresses 
and charms the ear. The harmony is that of paral- 
lelism, short sentences carrying on the thought in 
regular movement, the thought and feeling welling 
forth naturally as from a bubbling spring. The 
poetry of nature, it may well be called. /The rapid 
accumulation of thought and feeling in some gifted 
soul results in the quick repetition of short sentences 
just as passionate feelings naturally express them- 
selves in quick breathings, rapid heart-beats, marching 
steps. Short sentences marching after each other, 
v^this is Hebrew parallelism. The rhythm is like the 
swing of a pendulum, like the tramp of an army, like 
the stately stride of a king, the rhythmic march of 
thought. This simple and noble form of poetry loses 
few of its striking features by translation. The fact 
that the Psalms are so fresh and living to-day in the 



BIBLE POETRY 205 

many languages of the world is due not only to the 
spirit but largely to the form of Hebrew poetry. 

Dress of Poetry 

The dress of poetry comes from the country where 
the poet lives. 

"If you the poet would understand 
You must dwell in the poet's land." 

Icelandic songs have the background of snow wastes 
and the accompaniment of the storm wind. Tales of 
the Orient are told in the twilight under the whisper- 
ing palm trees. The dweller in the tropics must know 
something of our northern clime or he will miss the 
music we hear in Poe's Bells and the genial warmth of 
the glowing hearth in Whittier's Snow Bound. The 
poem is the child of its own time and clime, we must 
know something of the circumstances of its birth if 
we would see its beauty. Figures of speech arise 
spontaneously from experience. The word paintings 
of the poet are of the scenes his eyes beheld. 

Widely different ages and lands reflect themselves 
in the poems of the Bible. Psalm 157, The Lament 
of the Captives, was evidently written at a late date 
and on the great plains of Babylon. So other poems 
were writen at a very early day and in the desert. 

The Song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32 : 1-43, at the 
close of his life draws its imagery largely from Sinai 
and Moab. The memories of the glory of God re- 
vealed to him in the mountain are uppermost at the 
close of his life. Nine times he calls God» the Rock. 
And he builds his hope for the nation entirely upon 



2o6 ORATORY AND POETRY 

Him. The Song is in fine harmony with the occasion 
of its birth. 

Still we have only glimpses of other lands, while the 
vision of the home country is frequently and most 
lovingly depicted. The Bible land itself, thrown up 
by the wide desert against the great sea, with its 
lofty outlook, its rugged hill country, its plains and 
valleys, its snow clad Hermon and its torrid Jordan 
depression, reflects itself in Bible poetry. 

Psalm 1st is the beautiful gateway not only into the 
Book but into the Psalm Country itself. The moun- 
tains of Ebal and Gerizim are on either side and snow- 
clad Hermon, like the Great White Throne of Judg- 
ment, is in the distance. The tree figure is from the 
Jordan Valley, the chaff figure from the hill country, 
and the congregation figure from the Temple courts. 

The most sublime and impressive imagery sets forth 
God in His relation to His land and people. Light 
is His garment. Thunder is His voice. 

Psalm 2pth, The Song of the Thunder-storm, 
graphically pictures the majestic sweep of the storm, 
with its seven thunder voices, as it rises from the 
great sea, sweeps over the mountains and passes away 
into the desert. Now the whole landscape is fresh and 
the sky is clear and everything in the wide earth, the 
great Temple of God, says Glory, and the last note of 
the thunder voice is the word peace. 

Poetry in Worship 

The Psalms seem to have formed an important 
part of the Temple worship. While many may have 
been recited in its liturgy many evidently were to be 



BIBLE POETRY 207 

sung and bear indications of having been set to music. 

Some of the Psalms are so arranged as to force the 
conclusion that they were sung in parts, a portion of 
the choir singing in response to another portion, and 
at times the whole choir and the people joining in 
the chorus. 

Psalm loy, the Song of the Redeemed, was prob- 
ably written for Temple use and so arranged. We 
can but faintly imagine its effective rendering by the 
great choir of four thousand voices, with the full 
orchestra accompaniment of three hundred instru- 
ments, in the open air in the courts of the Temple on 
Mount Moriah; it must have been an act of worship 
befitting a nation offering the praises of the whole 
earth to the Lord God Almighty. The first three 
stanzas are a prelude to be sung by a few strong voices 
with a succession of trumpet tones, to prepare for 
the great theme. Then follows a succession of 
strophes, each having a double refrain. In each fol- 
lowing a description of distress there is a cry for help. 
This was probably sung by a few voices without in- 
struments. Then there is a description of deliverance 
and an outburst of praise. This would be sung by 
many voices with loud instruments. There are four 
of these strophes, each increasing in power. Then 
follows a long postlude, sung by choir and people in 
grand chorus, with all the instruments of music, voic- 
ing forth the praises of the redeemed. 

The two prevailing ideas in Hebrew life find their 
fullest expression in these Psalms of Worship. The 
first is God in covenant with man. Psalm 89 may be 
called The Song of the Covenant. God's faithfulness 



2o8 ORATORY AND POETRY 

is its theme. He is a covenant keeping God. It con- 
tains a long sustained adoration of God which excels 
among the praises of Israel. The second is the great 
subject of the covenant, the Coming King, the prom- 
ised Messiah. Contained also in this 89th Psalm. 

"His seed shall endure forever, 
And his throne as the sun before me, 
It shall be established forever as the moon, 
And as the faithful witness in the sky." 

There seem to be three distinct features of this Mes- 
sianic element in the Psalms sometimes appearing 
singly, sometimes together. 

There is what may be called the experimental. The 
psalmist in his experiences as a child of God trusting 
and serving Him in sunshine and darkness, spoke 
words well fitting the lips of Him who long after 
walked the fields of Galilee. Psalm 22 may he called 
The Song of the Suffering Messiah. The king in 
describing the path of his suffering leading him to 
his glory, described at the same time the deeper 
suffering and the greater glory of the greater King. 

Then there is what may be called the rapturous. 
The psalmist cherishing in his heart the promise of 
the coming Messiah pours forth a song of hope and 
love in language so lofty and significant that we 
adoringly recognize a "greater than Solomon is here." 

Psalm ^2, The Song of the King^s Reign, is clearly 
of this rapturous kind. 

Then there is what may be called the predictive. 
Certain features of the coming Messiah evidently be- 
yond the experiences, even beyond the hopes of the 



BIBLE POETRY 209 

psalmist, were revealed to him and so are enshrined 
in the Psalms. Psalm no may he called the Song of 
the King-Priest, and seems to be of this description. 

These few selections show what a wide range, what 
a lofty flight the genius of Bible poetry takes, how it 
soars from the adoring soul, through the glorious 
universe, and worships God enthroned in light. 

That Bible poetry has incited the imagination of 
mankind and inspired much of the finest poetry of the 
world cannot be questioned, but its noblest influence 
has ever been in quickening the spiritual nature of 
man. 



CHAPTER XIII 

EPIC POETRY 

Songs in the Epic Spirit 

A UNIVERSE from which God is banished has no 
longer anything that irresistibly attracts the mind of 
man. It is a machine whose mathematics may be 
studied but whose life and glory have departed. Athe- 
ism cannot hope to produce great poetry. The great 
epics of heathen poets are stories of heroic deeds of 
both gods and men. To see God's being and purpose 
in nature and in our lives adds both force and beauty 
to them, brings the vision and the song of poetry. 

Goethe in Faust wrote concerning man, and it is 
one of his most admired verses, 

"Like as a star 
That maketh not haste 
That taketh not rest 
Be each one revolving 
About his own weight." 

We recognize the truth of star and man, both are 
self -centered; but it is not the highest and best truth 
of either, certainly not of man; there is a higher note, 
a loftier vision, a nobler nature. Much of the ad- 
miration the lines have awakened comes from the 
translation of Carlyle, giving the higher truth of both 
star and man: 

210 



EPIC SONGS 211 

"Like as a star 
That maketh not haste 
That taketh not rest 
Be each one fulfilling 
His God-given hest." 

The great theme of the Bible is God, the revelation 
of his being and his works, his character and his 
dealings with men. But no eye can see God, no ear 
can hear him speak; man may be conscious of his 
presence and of his commands, and may act according 
to this consciousness, but even such a one finds it 
difficult to describe God so that others may see and 
hear him. The epic poet describes the actors and their 
deeds as he sees them and makes us see them, the 
dramatic poet presents the actors before us and they 
speak and act for themselves, both description and 
presentation are difficult when God himself is the sub- 
ject. The Bible in its narrative, its oratory and its 
poetry struggles with this immense difficulty; it may 
be said to be one vast Epic from Genesis to Revela- 
tion, one vast Drama; its aim is to make men see 
and hear God. 

Much of the narrative of the Bible is written in 
the true epic spirit, not in dry and dull details, a mere 
enumeration of events, but in a way to kindle the 
imagination and stir the emotions to see and feel the 
events. This is sometimes supplemented by song; the 
feelings of the actors break through all restraints and, 
in describing the main features of the events, rise up 
in praise to the unseen God who has brought them 
to pass. These may be called songs in the epic spirit, 
songs that describe and express the spirit of the action. 



212 ORATORY AND POETRY 

Such songs keep the spirit of the action alive through 
the coming ages : as some one says : ''Let me make the 
songs of a people and I care not who makes their laws/' 

The story of the deliverance of the Children of 
Israel from their Egyptian bondage (Exodus 7-14) is 
a prose epic, and the Hebrew prose of short, vivid 
sentences is not far removed from the Hebrew poetry 
of parallel sentences. Egypt at that time was a great 
world empire extending to the Euphrates on the north- 
east and to the center of Africa on the south. Its 
home was the valley of the Nile, a narrow ribbon of 
land ten miles wide and a thousand miles long cut out 
from the great desert and made very fertile by the 
annual overflow of the river and by the warm, cloud- 
less sky. The Egyptians worshipped their river, their 
sky, and prolific life. This affords the background 
of the tremendous scenes of the plagues, and the 
story is simply and graphically told so that we, even 
in this far off age and land, can see them. 

Two nations are the great parties in action, one 
dominant, one depressed ; Pharaoh and his court repre- 
sent the one, Moses and Aaron and a few slaves 
represent the other; God is present but, as ever, un- 
heard and unseen. The river becomes a curse, from 
it pests and pestilences arise and afflict prolific hfe. 
The clear sky becomes angry with lightning and 
thunder, with hail and locusts, with black darkness; 
and in the night time stark death stalks through the 
land striking every home. The depressed nation passes 
out into freedom; the dominant nation, recovering its 
courage, pursues; and its great army is utterly de- 
stroyed in the overwhelming sea. Now the feelings 



EPIC SONGS 213 

of the rescued nation burst forth in praise to the 
unseen God, their great deliverer; and the song, of 
necessity, takes the epic form describing the culminat- 
ing act of the deliverance (Exodus 15). It may 
bear the title 'The Song of Glorious Triumph.'' The 
first and second verses form the prelude : 

'This is my God, I will praise him." 

The song has three parts; the ifirst part (verses 3-5) 
simply describes the event: 

"Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea. 
They went down into the depths like a stone." 

The second part (verses 6-10) gives a few powerful 
touches of details of dramatic force: 

"The enemy said, 

I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, 
They sank as lead in the mighty waters." 

The third part (verses 11 -18) describes the far reach- 
ing results of the glorious deliverance: 

"The peoples have heard, they tremble, 
Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia. 
The Lord shall reign forever and ever." 

The plan of the spontaneous song seems like throwing 
a stone into the water: it plunges into the water, the 
water closes over it, the ripples spread to the far off 
shore. 

The postlude follows: 

"Sing ye to the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously, 
The horse and his rider hath he throtvn into the sea." 

In later days songs on the same subject arose. Psalms 
78, 105, 106, but have less of the epic spirit. 



214 ORATORY AND POETRY 

In Judges, the fifth chapter, we have another epic 
song, and the same event is described in prose in the 
fourth chapter; both show the prominence and honor 
given to woman in Israel. There are hints in the 
narrative that the oppression was lustful in the degra- 
dation of woman; hence Deborah, the mother in Israel, 
and Jael, the wife of the traitor, revenge womanhood 
upon the oppressor. The song may be called ''Great 
Deliverance'' and has the epic character of describing 
the event, and seems the spontaneous praise of the 
actors. The prelude (2-5) contains an apostrophe to 
the Lord; the song is divided into three parts: the 
first describes the oppression (6-11); the second 
(12-18), the rally to resist oppression; the third (19- 
31), the defeat and destruction of the oppressor. 
Verses 24-31 present two women in strong contrast: 
Jael in killing Sisera, and his mother in waiting for 
his return; naturally our sympathies would be with 
the mother. 

"Through the window she looked forth and cried, 
The mother of Sisera cried through the lattice, 
Why is his chariot so long in coming? 
Why tarry the wheels of his chariot?" 

The pathos is strong, the mother watching for one 
who will never return. By a daring poetic imagery our 
sympathies turn from the mother to Jael, when we 
hear how the mother consoles herself with what would 
have happened had Sisera triumphed. 

"Her wise ladies answered her, 
Yea, she returned answer to herself, 
Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil, 
A damsel, two damsels to every man, 
To Sisera a spoil of diverse colors on the necks of the spoil." 



EPIC SONGS 215 

Well may the women sing : 
"So let thy enemies perish O Lord." 

An epic narrates stirring events, heroic action; we 
of course find feeling in them, we infer it; but an 
epic song may express progress of feeling primarily, 
and we may have to infer the events. 

The Song of Songs which is Solomon's is an epic 
idyl of home and love, as in Ruth, only the events are 
less prominent and the feelings are graphically ex- 
pressed. Courtship and marriage are important ex- 
periences in human life, man was created male and 
female, the two natures are needed to complete human 
nature, and when wedded by pure, strong love form 
the highest ideal of Hfe on earth. This is expressed 
in the Song of Songs; it is superlative, the best love 
song of all the ages. It is a song made up of songs; 
the King sings of the Bride, the Bride of the King, 
and those who witness their happiness sing of that joy. 
At first blush it does not seem to be a song of praise 
to God as he is hardly referred to in the whole book, 
and some have questioned why it should be included 
among the books in the Bible ; but the finest expression 
of the highest human happiness may be regarded as 
itself praise of God, as the singing of birds, as the 
fragrance of flowers, as the beauteous light upon land 
and sea are in themselves voices of praise to God. 
Besides, this highest relationship of man and woman 
has been chosen in other books of the Bible to illus- 
trate the relation between God and his people, they 
are personified as his bride, and this superlative song 
of earth's happiness lifts one's thought to the happi- 



2i6 ORATORY AND POETRY 

ness of the eternal life: Christ the Bridegroom and 
his Bride in the Palace above, the Father's house of 
many mansions. 

One view of the song based upon this illustration 
of the higher relation, regards it as an allegory, that 
the poet is directly describing Christ and his Church 
under the figure of Solomon and his Bride. The per- 
sons and objects are not real but figures of spiritual 
persons and objects, the filling in of the details of the 
scenes has reference only to Christ and his Church. 
The devout imagination takes the wildest flight, with- 
out restraint, and often out of sight of any power of 
reason we at present possess. A few examples are 
at least curious. 

(2: 16 and 6: 3) 

*'He feedeth among the lilies" 

means Christ condescends to dwell among his lowly 
people. 

(2: 17 and 8: 14) 

"Make haste my beloved 
And be like a roe or a young hart 
Upon the mountains of spices" 

means Christ coming to his people through the ordi- 
nances. 

A whole book has been written describing the per- 
son and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and it has high 
spiritual value coming from a devout, adoring soul, 
as its title would lead one to infer: *'A11 about Jesus." 
It is based upon the ecstatic description the enraptured 
bride gives of her lover, the King (5 : 10-16) ; it re- 
quires a marvelous ingenuity to find in these verses a 



EPIC SONGS 217 

description of Christ, the writer brought far more to 
the passage than it contained. 

The Song of Songs, whether written by Solomon or 
by a much later poet making Solomon its hero, is a 
song of pure love. 

There are two views of the story underneath the 
song. One is that a most beautiful peasant maiden 
in the north of the land captures the heart of Solomon. 
He has her brought to Jerusalem and becomes her 
enraptured suitor. Solomon the magnificent bows at 
her feet, all the glory of his court, all the glamour 
of his power, all the charm of his person, all the ardor 
of his love are lavishly offered to her: but in vain. 
She has given her heart to an humble shepherd lover in 
her own land ; the King has no charm for her. It is 
a song of true love. 

The other story under the song is that Solomon, 
visiting the northern portion of his kingdom, catches 
a glimpse of this wonderfully beautiful maiden, falls 
in love with her and wishes to win her heart. He lays 
aside his royal state, disguises himself as a shepherd, 
and courts her. Her heart is free and soon yields 
to his wooing, and they become betrothed. He goes 
to Jerusalem on some pretext, and after a short time, 
still maintaining his disguise, he sends for her to come 
to him. She, supposing she is to meet her humble 
lover, comes in her pure simplicity to the great city; 
Solomon meets her, still disguised, and they are mar- 
ried; a case of pure, wedded love. Now the disguise 
is thrown aside and Solomon the Magnificent, takes 
her as his Queen to his palace. The Song of Songs 
now arises and expresses the rapture of their love 



2i8 ORATORY AND POETRY 

in the palace and as they recount to each other the 
romance of the courtship and the betrothal in Lebanon. 
This latter story fits more closely all the bewildering 
beauty of the Song of Songs. It throbs with passion; 
the King has not made a political alliance without 
heart, for reasons of state, but a love match; and he 
and his bride cannot fully express their feelings for 
each other. The Bible consecrates all it touches; the 
greatest of all love songs can but faintly express the 
love of the greater King and his still more lowly 
bride. 

As wedded love is the highest joy of two lives and 
marriage is the basis of society so the city may be 
regarded as the culminating experience of social life, 
the cluster of families in the bright flower of society. 
There are two great poems in the Bible concerning the 
city of Zion, neither can be called in any sense an 
epic, but we may glance at them here. The first is 
the Lamentations of Jeremiah. Poetry and oratory 
are closely akin and the great orator may have been 
the great poet as well. The destruction of a great 
city is one of the most awful experiences human 
nature can pass through, and this poem is evidently 
written by one who had shared in that experience. 
Though charged with deepest feeling it is most artistic 
in form. There are five songs or lamentations each 
complete in itself both in subject and form, each con- 
tains twenty-two verses according to the number of 
letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and each verse in the 
first four divisions begins with the appropriate letter 
in progression to the end. The first song describes the 
desolation : 



EPIC SONGS 219 

"How doth the city sit solitary, 
She has become as a widow, 
She weepeth sore in the night. 
Her tears are on her cheeks." 

The second song attributes the destruction to God's 
wrath : 

"How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a 

cloud in his anger, 
He hath cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty 
of Israel." 

The third song is the climax, the city becomes per- 
sonified and moans out its distress : 

"I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath 
My flesh and my skin hath he made old, he hath broken my 

bones. 
He hath fenced me about that I cannot go forth, he hath 

made my chain heavy." 

The fourth song contrasts the present desolation with 
the past glory : 

"How is the gold become dim, how is the most pure gold 
changed. 

The fifth song is the prayer of the desolate city: 

"Remember O Lord what is come upon us. 
Behold and see our reproach, 
Our inheritance is turned unto strangers, 
Our houses unto aliens. 
Turn thou us unto thee O Lord, 
Hast thou utterly rejected us?" 

The great song sobs itself into silence. 

The city does not remain desolate in the dark night 
of God's wrath; through the vision of a great prophet 
we see the coming of a new and splendid day. 



220 ORATORY AND POETRY 

Again we recognize that oratory and poetry are 
close akin, that fine oratory while in prose form has 
the loftiest spirit of poetry. Isaiah, 40th-66th chap- 
ters, takes the form of spiritualized drama, no persons 
are seen, but the change of speakers is frequent and 
is arranged in acts or scenes. The orator or poet be- 
comes rapt in his vision and speaks for others in such 
a way that we do not think of the poet but of the 
speakers he brings before us. The speakers in this 
rhapsody are Jehovah, the Celestial Hosts, the Nations, 
Cyrus, Israel, Zion, the Servant of Jehovah, the Pro- 
phetic Spectator, the Voice of Prophecy, the Redeemer 
of Zion, the Watchman of Jerusalem, an impersonal 
voice in the air cries, and there are hymns as stmg by 
unseen choirs. 

We can give only an outline of the Rhapsody of 
Zion Redeemed : 

Prelude, Hope for Israel (40:1-11). 

Act I, Scene i, Glory of Jehovah enthroned the nations 
before him (40: 12-42: 17). 
Scene 2, Judgment on Babylon (42:18-48). Refrain. 
Act 2, Scene 3, Redemption of Zion, 

Israel in the background, 
Servant of Jehovah in foreground (49-52: 12). 
Scene 4, Servant of Jehovah exalted through suffer- 
ing (52:13-53). 
Zion exalted with him (54-55). 
Scene 5, Sin and Forgiveness (56-57). Refrain. 
Act 3, Scene 6, The Redeemer come to Zion, 
Zion triumphant (58-62). 
Scene 7, Redemption through Judgment (63-66). 
Thus saith the Lord: 
"The heaven is my throne 
The earth is my footstool. 
What place shall be my rest? 
What manner of house will ye build unto me ?" 



CHAPTER XIV 

DRAMATIC POETRY 

The Book of Job 

Literature is artistic, its creations hold their place 
in the world's esteem by completeness of thought and 
beauty of form. The writings of the masters have 
qualities rendering them agreeable to the eye and to 
the ear, both beauty and music, elegance and harmony. 
Many acknowledged masters of literature are out- 
spoken in their appreciation of the Book of Job. 

Carlyle says, '^I call the Book of Job one of the 
grandest things ever written by pen. There is noth- 
ing written, I think, in the Bible or out of it of equal 
literary merit." 

Froude says, **This book when it is allowed to stand 
on its own merits is seen towering up alone far above 
all the poetry of the world." 

Schaff says, "Considering its antiquity and artistic 
perfection it rises like a pyramid in the history of 
literature, without a predecessor and without a rival." 

Moulton says, "If a jury of persons well instructed 
in literature were asked what is the greatest poem in 
the world's great literatures, I believe a large majority 
would give their verdict in favor of the Book of Job." 

Daniel Webster says, "The Book of Job as a mere 
work of literary genius is the most wonderful produc- 

221 



222 ORATORY AND POETRY 

tion of any age or of any language. It is purely in- 
tellectual, depending not on the interest of a story as 
does the Iliad, but entirely upon the power of the dia- 
logue. I read it often and always with renewed de- 
light.'' 

Hamilton Mabie says, "Nobody can know the 
Psalms of David or the Prophecies of Isaiah or that 
sublime Book of Job without being imbued with a keen 
imagination." 

The author of this masterpiece of poetry is not 
known, nor even the time in which it was written. 
Some think it was written in the time of Abraham as 
all the local color is of that age, but against this is 
the perfection of its literary form. Some think it was 
written in the time of Solomon or later, against this 
is the absence of all reference to national history or 
present conditions. Some think it was written by 
several authors in different ages, against this is the 
rarity of such genius. 

The poem may be regarded as pure drama ; the poet 
does not describe in his ow^n words the deeds and say- 
ings of others as in epic poetry, he simply presents 
Job and his friends in certain circumstances, and they 
speak their thoughts and feelings to each other. God 
is the principal person in the Bible and one instinc- 
tively feels the inappropriateness of a drama in which 
this principal character is either brought forward or 
left out. The great poet of this book has two daring 
devices by which he brings God himself forward as 
the principal actor in this drama. There is a prologue 
in which he describes a scene in heaven and a scene on 
earth as in epic poetry, then follows the drama in five 



BOOK OF JOB 223 

acts, at its close there is the description of a scene on 
earth, the epilogue of the poem. In the prologue and 
in the epilogue God is the principal person, he is de- 
scribed as in epic poetry, but this must be regarded 
as the bold setting of the scene by the dramatist. In 
the last act of the drama the poet by a bold device 
brings God forward, and his words form the climax 
of the poem; a great storm arises, one of Job's friends 
graphically describes its approach; the thunderstorm 
is God's garment, and the unseen God speaks from the 
wind-driven clouds. The splendid genius of the poet 
is seen not only in this setting of the speech of God, 
but in that the speech itself is worthy of the speaker, 
it is the long-sustained culmination of the drama. 

The theme of the drama is "The mystery of the 
suffering of a good maij under the government of the 
righteous God." This is a colossal theme, colossal in 
its grave simplicity and in the dignity of its treatment. 
The theme some have suggested, mislead by the pro- 
logue, of "How the righteous can suffer and endure 
steadfast to the end" is comparatively a small theme, 
it centers interest in Job, a mere man ; while the drama 
in the sweep and loftiness of its discussion centers 
interest in the righteous God. 

While the scene in heaven is a part of the book, Job 
and his friends are entirely ignorant of it, and God 
when he speaks does not refer to it. 

The story is quickly told. Job is a man of virtue, 
prosperity and happiness ; suddenly prosperity is swept 
away, bereavement displaces happiness, and sickness, 
painful and loathsome, lays him low; only virtue re- 
mains. Job poor, friendless, loathsome, is upon an 



224 ORATORY AND POETRY 

ash-heap outside the town, removed from his home, 
cast out by mankind; and the weary days pass on, 
length of time adds to his sufferings. Friends of his 
prosperous days h.ving at a distance, hear of his great 
disaster and come to him, and are astounded at his 
great distress. Now Job and his friends enter upon a 
deep, thoughtful and often passionate discussion of the 
righteousness of God. They do not for a moment 
question but that the righteous God has brought this 
distress upon Job. How can it be explained and justi- 
fied? At length God himself enters upon the discus- 
sion, he speaks from the whirlwind. 

Then the scene changes and Job is completely re- 
stored to health and prosperity. 

With reference to the theme itself, the problem of 
evil resting heavily upon the good in this world, other 
literatures, philosophies and religions have varied ex- 
planations; their entire absence from this drama is 
itself noteworthy. Some hold there are conflicting 
Gods, no one supreme ; or God is not good, he delights 
in human sufferings; or God is powerless, has made 
forces and laws but cannot control them; or God is 
indifferent, he does not care ; or there is no God, only 
blind chance or fate. In this great poem the rule of 
the righteous God in all nature and in human life is 
fully acknowledged. 

The book evidently divides itself into five sections, 
we may call each section an act, so this drama is com- 
plete in five acts. The first act embraces the first 
eleven chapters, it includes the stage setting in the pro- 
logue and the first round of the discussion by Job 
and his three friends. Job speaks first three times 



BOOK OF JOB 225 

and each friend speaks in answer to him. The Hght 
thrown upon the colossal theme in both prologue and 
discussion is that under the righteous government of 
God a good man may be tested by suffering, both to 
confirm him and to vindicate him against the false 
charges that he is good only because he is prosperous. 

The second act, 12-20 chapters, contains the second 
round of the discussion. Job speaks first three times 
and each friend speaks in answer to him. The friends 
here develop their opinion that Job must have some 
special wickedness unknown to men but known to God 
which is the cause of his great suffering. Job resent- 
ing this speaks in several instances concerning God's 
dealings with him in terms which lead one to fear he 
may soon rebel against God. As in a drama the hero 
generally passes at least once under a cloud, so Job in 
this act; but he quickly and strongly wins one's ad- 
miration again for his strong faith, in the last verses 
of the 19th chapter. 

The third act, chapters 21-31, continues the charge 
of the three friends that Job must be specially wicked 
since God has sent such special distress upon him. 
Job speaks first twice and two friends answer him; 
Job speaks again, the third friend is silenced; Job 
speaks again, and at last all the friends are silenced. 
The light thrown upon the colossal theme in the second 
and third act is that suffering is a punishment for sin 
under the government of the righteous God. 

The fourth act, chapters 32-37, contains four 
speeches by the fourth friend. Each speech is received 
by Job in silence. One hardly knows how to interpret 
this silence of Job, is it acceptance or rejection of the 



226 ORATORY AND POETRY 

view presented? Here seems another instance of the 
art of the dramatist. In act second our hero sank a 
httle in our esteem and we feared for him, here as in 
dramas generally there is suspense, we hold our breath 
but feel sure the hero will stand the strain and come 
out in success. The light thrown upon the colossal 
theme in this act is that suffering while not a punish- 
ment may be a discipline into greater virtue under the 
government of the righteous God. 

The fifth act, chapters 38-42, contains the speech of 
God from the whirlwind and the epilogue. God speaks 
of the mystery, beyond the powers of man to fathom, 
of God's creation and government of the great uni- 
verse. The light thrown upon the colossal theme is 
that suffering while a mystery to us is clear to him, 
it is needed in the culmination of creation, the making 
of a man. The epilogue shows the quick climax of 
the drama, the restoration of Job to more than earthly 
happiness. The light thrown upon the colossal theme 
is that goodness is sure of final triumph under the 
government of the righteous God. 

It is quite evident in this great drama that while 
Job is the human hero and holds our interest to the 
close, the real Hero is the God dealing with Job, test- 
ing him, punishing him, disciplining him, making a 
man of him, and crowning him at last; God is the 
great Hero of this, the greatest of the world's dramas. 
The greatness of the poem is thus seen in the plot or 
story of the drama through successive stages of in- 
terest or suspense until the climax is reached and the 
righteous God brings Job out of his suffering into 
great prosperity. Still it is in the discussion of the 



BOOK OF JOB 227 

colossal theme, in the speeches of Job, his friends and 
God himself that the greatness of the poem is gener- 
ally recognized. The wide sweep of thought over all 
the varied experiences of man's life, and over the 
works of God in the heavens and in the earth, the 
clearness and beauty of the expression of this thought, 
greatness of thought and beauty of form, combine 
to make this poem the greatest in the literature of the 
world. Modem culture flowering forth in the greatest 
genius can appreciate but cannot excel many passages 
clustering in the book, from the description of the 
grave, 2: 17-19, to that of the sea, 38:9-11. Modern 
wickedness oppressing his fellowman can hardly be 
more hideously described than in 24:9-11. Every 
careful reader and every careful reading of the book 
will select fresh passages of strength or beauty. 

This ancient book in its descriptions of God's work 
in nature is free from the crudities that prevail in 
other ancient literatures, and the descriptions are often 
so deep and so true that modern science confirms but 
does not exhaust them. As the wonderful hymn of 
creation, the first chapter of Genesis, describes the 
successive stages of the formation of the earth and its 
living voyagers through space in a way beyond the 
knowledge of ancient times, and in the order since 
described by modern science, so this book awakens our 
wonder. Take for swift examination a few references 
to the heavens, and modern astronomy confirms but 
does not exhaust them. Job says (26:7) ''God 
stretcheth out the north over empty space, and hangeth 
the earth upon nothing." The north is still compara- 
tively empty of stars seen by the naked eye not only 



228 ORATORY AND POETRY 

but by the strongest telescope and by modern stellar 
photography, and the earth is a ball hanging from that 
empty space. God says (38:31) "Canst thou bind 
the cluster of the Pleiades or loose the bands of 
Orion?" God is speaking of his mysterious power, 
you, Job, cannot do what I am doing. Modern astro- 
nomy says the cluster of the Pleiades is being bound 
closer together, and that the bands of Orion over our 
solar system are being loosed, that our sun and its 
planets are moving with utmost rapidity, eighteen 
miles a second, away from the constellation Orion 
toward the constellation Hercules. 

God continues (Job 38: 32) "Canst thou lead forth 
the Mazzaroth in their season or canst thou guide the 
Bear with her train ?" The Mazzaroth are the bright 
shining ones, the disks among the stars, our planets. 
The Bear is the one who labors, the all night watcher; 
of the summer heavens it is Arcturus, a sun of the 
same class as our sun, but 375,000 times its volume, 
and giving 5,000 times as much light, and probably 
having a much larger number of planets circling about 
it. Can you bring out the planets of your little sun, 
Job, or the planets of the greatest sun in the heavens? 
You cannot, but I am doing it. Beyond the knowl- 
edge of his day that the earth was a ball, that the sun 
was related to the Pleiades or Orion, that the sun had 
planets or that there were other such suns, this won- 
derful poet of the ancient time selects features of the 
heavens and describes them in harmony with our mod- 
ern knowledge; we wonder but do not attempt to 
explain. 

Still the greater mystery remains, why does God do 



BOOK OF JOB 229 

all these great deeds ? They are only explained in the 
culmination, in the making of a man. 

The colossal theme, "The suffering of a good man 
under the government of the righteous God," is dis- 
cussed not only in that ancient time but for all time, 
our modern time as well. But as with science so with 
religion, we live after Christ; and a poem written 
today upon the subject would be full of the hope of 
the immortal life in heaven, in Christ's presence and 
likeness. Though written long before Christ, possibly 
long before the preparation made for Christ's coming 
in the worship of Israel, and in the preaching of the 
prophets, there are bright stars shining in the book 
which our modern Christianity confirms but does not 
exhaust: Job 16:20-22 and 33:22-24 are such stars, 
and especially in the second act of the drama when 
Job comes out from the cloud which had enveloped 
him and sees the bright shining of the Sun of Right- 
eousness ( 19 : 23-27) . 

"Oh that my words were now written, 
Oh that they were inscribed in a book 
That with an iron pen and lead 
They were graven in the rock forever. 
But as for me, I know that my Redeemer liveth 
And at last he will stand up upon the earth. 
And after my skin even this body is destroyed, 
Then without my flesh shall I see God, 
Whom I, even I shall see on my side, 
And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger." 

We wonder at such faith in that ancient time but 
do not attempt to explain. 



CHAPTER XV 

DIDACTIC POETRY 

The Proverbs 

Aristotle describes poetry as ''the expression of 
the universal, as more philosophic and of higher worth 
than history." There is deep philosophy in the Bible 
based upon its four underlying truths : there is one 
God, he created the universe, he created man capable 
of holding fellowship with Himself, and he governs 
the universe in righteousness. The knowledge of God 
and of his will is the expression of the universal ac- 
cording to Bible philosophy, it is expressed not merely 
in words but especially in practice, knowledge put into 
action. The deep philosophy of the Bible results in 
wisdom, it is not merely great powers of reasoning and 
vast stores of knowledge, but knowledge and reason- 
ing applied to the conduct of life. An able and learned 
man may be a very foolish one in his living, it requires 
more than learning to make one wise. The Wisdom 
Literature of the Bible is the result of reflection upon 
the practical side of life, it describes the proper con- 
duct of man in a universe governed by the righteous 
God. True poetry is more than seeing to the soul of 
things and voicing the vision in song, it is voicing the 
vision in the conduct of a life in harmony with God 
in his universe. 

230 



THE PROVERBS 231 

In describing the principles and results of conduct 
the proverb has been used in all ages and by all races. 
The description is put first in a terse saying, an illus- 
tration or comparison follows, equally terse, to make 
the whole truth pungent and fix it in the memory. 
Our own Dr. Franklin was a master of this popular 
wisdom. Here is one of his proverbs : "Poverty often 
deprives a man of all spirit and virtue." A terse 
statement; now by comparison and illustration he 
makes it pungent and it clings to the memory: "It is 
hard for an empty bag to stand upright,'' and the 
proverb is complete. 

The Book of Proverbs is the philosophy of the 
Bible applied to the conduct of life and cast in the 
form of poetry. The parallel couplet is the elemen- 
tary type of Hebrew poetry, and this gives a fine 
form for the proverb. The unit proverb is a unit of 
thought in a unit of form. There are three main 
kinds of parallels in Hebrew poetry which find fine 
use in the Proverbs ; the first is the repeating parallel, 
the philosophy is complete in each line : 

"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, 
And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." 

The second is the advancing parallel, the philosophy 
requires both lines to complete it : 

"As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, 
So is the sluggard to them that send him." 

The third is the opposing parallel, the philosophy is 
strengthened by contrast: 

"The wicked flee when no man pursueth 
But the righteous are bold as a lion." 



232 ORATORY AND POETRY 

The Proverbs concerning the conduct of life and 
expressed in these appropriate forms have awakened 
great admiration in careful students of the book. Dr. 
Guthrie says "The Proverbs fulfil the requirements of 
effective oratory in that almost every verse both strikes 
and sticks." Principal Lee says 'The high character 
Scotsmen have for practical sagacity comes from their 
acquaintance v^ith the book of Proverbs." Coleridge 
says ''The book of Proverbs is the best statesman's 
manual ever v^ritten." 

The book is frequently described as a guide to busi- 
ness success. 

It is quite evident that proverbs arise in two ways. 
Most of the proverbs of all nations arise probably 
from the general experiences of mankind which at 
length are expressed in the concise sayings of the 
people; no one knows or can find out who first spoke 
the saying ; its first form has probably been improved 
by successive generations, until at length it can be 
improved no further; it is a perfect proverb. The 
collection of such proverbs is like placer mining; the 
grains of gold have been washed out from the rock 
by the frost and storms of ages, have been borne 
down in the winter floods and at length have been 
deposited in the sand bar ; the miner simply washes 
them from the worthless sand. The collector of prov- 
erbs simply separates the wise sayings of the experi- 
ence of mankind through the ages, from the unwise; 
the grains of gold from the worthless sand. Such 
proverbs may be properly credited to the collector, 
his genius discovers and preserves them; doubtless 
many such were credited to Dr. Benjamin Franklin. 



THE PROVERBS 233 

Many other proverbs arise from the reflection of 
some wise man upon the experiences of mankind and 
he has the skill to express his reflection in a concise, 
sharp, witty saying. This is more like quartz mining, 
the miner digs into the rock for the gold. In the Book 
of Proverbs the first nine chapters contain proverbs 
arising in the latter way, the remaining chapters, with 
a few exceptions, seem to contain proverbs arising 
in the former way. 

The first nine chapters may be regarded as a Poem 
in praise of wisdom and it is composed of several 
minor poems, each complete in itself, and combining 
make the complete poem on wisdom. These minor 
poems have the nature of sonnets in that they have 
two groups of parallels expressing two successive 
phases of a single thought, and so are enlarged 
proverbs. There are eighteen such complete poems in 
the combined poem of the first nine chapters. Chapter 
1 : 7-19 may be rapidly examined, it is a complete poem 
of this kind; the first three verses are introductory; 
the tenth verse is the soul of the poem : 

"My son if sinners entice thee 
Consent thou not." 

Verses 11, 12, 13, 14 elaborate the first 
"My son if sinners entice thee 

Verses 15, 16, 17, 18 elaborate the second 
"Consent thou not." 

Each of these eighteen poems may be given a title by 
the attentive reader, the author having neglected this 



234 ORATORY AND POETRY 

work. A good title for the poem we have just con- 
sidered would be "Evil Company." Another com- 
plete poem though shorter, may bear the title "The 
Sluggard" : chapter 6 : 6-i i : 

*'Go to the ant, thou sluggard 
Consider her ways and be wise." 

Verses 7 and 8 elaborate the last parallel 
"Consider her ways and be wise" 

Verses 9, 10, 11 elaborate the first parallel 
*'Go to the ant, thou sluggard." 

The whole poem in praise of wisdom seems to 
grow more intense in spirit and elaborate in form and 
to culminate in the eighth chapter. Here also the 
poet has a device which we shall see is frequently found 
in the Psalms, that of a striking and powerful con- 
trast without a word of transition. He wishes to 
awaken special interest in the poem on wisdom in the 
eighth chapter; he personifies wisdom as a stately, 
pure and beautiful woman, the mother adored by her 
sons. The interest is quickened by a striking contrast, 
the seventh chapter immediately preceding, is the poem 
of the evil woman (7:27) : 

"Her house is the way to Sheol 
Going down to the chambers of death." 

The ninth chapter contains three poems continuing the 
contrast. The remainder of the book is composed 
largely of unit proverbs concerning the fruits of good 
and bad conduct in the various relations of life, ar- 



THE PROVERBS 235 

ranged with little or no order, a collection of proverbs 
arising from popular use. Among these may be found 
a few poems of arranged proverbs as the poem on 
Intoxication (23:29-35) and on Good Husbandry 
(27:23.27). 

The thirtieth chapter contains a few enigmas or 
dark sayings where the comparison parallel of the 
proverb is omitted with the design to exercise the 
reader's sagacity to supply it. The book closes with 
an elaborate acrostic, it is a beautiful poem in praise 
of a virtuous woman. 



CHAPTER XVI 

LYRIC POETRY 

The Psalms 

"The Psalms'' was a favorite and familiar book 
in the time of Christ. There are 283 clear quotations 
from the Old Testament found in the New Testa- 
ment, of these 116 are from the Psalms. In the early- 
church "The Psalms" was the first book put into the 
hands of the young converts, the primer of religious 
life, and no one could be admitted to the ministry 
unless he knew the psalter by heart. The book has 
found a prominent place in the public worship of 
every historic church and it is today the devotional 
book of the Christian world. Believers in all ages 
have found no words better fitted to express their 
deepest feelings in all the vicissitudes of human ex- 
perience than those of these ancient psalms. Intense 
feeling pulsates in many psalms, sorrows are voiced 
in sobbings, joys in exclamations and in outbursts of 
exultation and often these are contrasted and reiterated 
in the same psalm, like the recurrent melody of mar- 
riage and funeral bells. 

How and when these ancient psalms came to be 
collected in one book we do not know; the process 
seems to have had stages; as the revised version of 
our English translation shows, they were really 

236 



THE PSALMS 237 

gathered into five books. The early books may have 
been collected for use in the services of Solomon's 
Temple, the whole of the five books were probably used 
both in recitation and song in the worship of the 
second Temple in the time of Christ. The subjects 
of the songs vary alike in all the books so that no 
classification can be made. There is a singular feature 
that has awakened considerable study: the five books 
are characterized by a varied use of the Hebrew names 
of God: Jehovah and Elohem. In our authorized 
version Jehovah is translated Lord and Elohem, God ; 
in the American Revision Jehovah is retained but 
Elohem is still translated God. 

In the first book. Psalms 1-41, Jehovah is used 
272 times, Elohem 15 times; in the second book, 
Psalms 42-72, Jehovah is used 30 times, Elohem 164 
times; in the third book. Psalms 73-89, Jehovah is 
used 44 times, Elohem 43 times; in the fourth book, 
Psalms 90-106, Jehovah is used 112 times, Elohem 
7 times; in the fifth book. Psalms 107-150, Jehovah 
is used 22'j times, Elohem 35 times. The first book 
is the Jehovah book, the second book is the Elohem 
book, the third book is nearly equally Jehovah and 
Elohem, the last two books are Jehovah books. Those 
who care to count and compare will find this a marked 
feature of the books, but it will be difficult to draw 
any sane conclusion of either age or authorship. 

The division into five books is believed by some to 
have been made in imitation of the fivefold division of 
the books of the law, the Pentateuch; the Law is 
God's fivefold voice to man, the Psalms is man's five- 
fold response to God. This at least makes prominent 



238 ORATORY AND POETRY 

the distinction between law and praise. The Psalms 
present religion not as a law given or a revelation 
made but as truth apprehended, a guidance experi- 
enced, they express obedience, trust and love in praise 
to God. 

Much interest is often awakened in a song by know- 
ing or even conjecturing as to who wrote it or first 
sang it, or when it first came into existence and use. 
There are three helps we have in trying to judge of 
the authorship or date of a Psalm. 

First: the titles given to the Psalms; lOO bear some 
person's name in the title, i6 have headings without 
names, 34 have no headings at all, are called orphan 
psalms. These titles are of great though unknown 
antiquity, they were probably prefixed by the com- 
pilers of the books at various times prior to the Septua- 
gint translation. There seems no reason to believe 
they were prefixed by the authors of the psalms, their 
only value seems in showing what the lovers of the 
psalms living nearest to the times of their origin 
thought concerning their authors. 

Second: the historical allusions found in many of 
the psalms, the clearest being to the destruction of 
Jerusalem and to the captivity in Babylon. 

Third: the style and language of the psalm. Every 
age has a distinctive style and language and the poet, 
however great a genius, expresses his loftiest thoughts 
and deepest feelings in the terms of the age in which 
he lives, voices the age. This is a difficult problem 
to solve by those living in far different lands and ages 
and decisions vary according to the taste and judgment 
of the critics. 



THE PSALMS 239 

When these three guides agree upon any psalm a 
fair inference would be that its author was discovered. 
Two of the most fully described days in the far past 
are found in the life of David, one joyous, one sad; 
the glorious day was that in which he brought the 
Ark to Jerusalem, dedicating the capital city to the 
worship of God, making it the Holy City, the City of 
the great King; Psalms 30, 15, 24 probably belong 
to this day. The sad day was that of David's flight 
from Jerusalem on account of the rebellion of his son 
Absalom; Psalms 4, 3, 63 probably belong to this day. 
This rebellion may be connected with David's great 
sin, and Psalms 6, 32, 51 are cries, of confession and 
sorrow, for God's forgiveness. 

But in a real sense the greatest poets are impersonal, 
not who said it but what he said is of the highest 
interest, they are the voices of the higher intelligence, 
voices of the soul speaking to God and for God. 
Strong says "The true poet is one of the immortal 
few 

"Who to the enraptured soul and ear and eye 
Teach beauty, virtue, truth and love and melody." 

When a poet nowadays writes a song he generally 
gives a title to it descriptive of its content, the subject 
he has in mind, and these titles are of great value to 
us in appreciation of the poem ; the ancient poets gave 
no such descriptive titles. In the authorized version 
the translators of the Psalms give a full description 
of the contents, it is solely their opinion; the revised 
version gives the Psalm without any descriptive title, 
just as they found it; the American revision gives to 



240 ORATORY AND POETRY 

each Psalm a subject title, these sometimes show a 
fine appreciation of the translators, and this is their 
sole value, they in no sense came from the authors of 
the Psalms. 

Each one may read a psalm so carefully that he 
may describe the subject according to his appreciation, 
he has the same right and duty and may succeed as 
well as the American revisers, perhaps better than 
they. 

Psalm 19 has evidently three groups of verses: 1-6 
describing the heavens, 7-9 describing the law of God, 
10-14 describing man under the heavens and under 
the law. Many titles have been given to this Psalm, 
we may exercise our appreciation, our judgment and 
taste by choosing the best or by making one for our- 
selves. It has been called the Song of the Heavens, 
the Song of the Day, the Song of the Sun, the Song 
of the Law, the Song of Man, what he thinks of him- 
self when conscious of the presence of God. The 
philosopher Kant speaks of the two perpetual wonders, 
the starry heavens above and the moral law within; 
in this Psalm the three are placed side by side without 
a word of transition: the heavens, the law, and man, 
the philosopher. 

Of course the 150 Psalms do not all have equal 
merit, they appeal to different minds with varied force 
and to the same mind in different experiences. Gen- 
eral opinion has selected a few as being of superior 
value. Psalm 23rd, the Song of the Shepherd. In 
the tent of the shepherd God is a Shepherd, God fits 
himself to the varied employments and experiences of 
his people. As the sheep are led by the shepherd as 



THE PSALMS 241 

the night comes on up the dark ravine to a place of 
safety on the hills, and when they no longer can see 
the shepherd in the gathering gloom they can see the 
crook swaying over his shoulder against the skyline, 
and when they can no longer see that they can hear 
him striking the hard road with the staff as he leads, 
so many a soul passing through the valley of the 
shadow of death has been comforted by the leading 
of the great Shepherd until the heights of safety have 
been reached. 

Psalm 36, the Song of the Goodness of God. There 
are evidently three groups of verses, 1-4, 5-8, lo-ii; 
the central group is a fine description of the goodness 
of God: 

"Thy loving kindness O Lord is in the heavens, 
Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the skies, 
Thy righteousness is like the great mountains, 
Thy judgments are a great deep." 

By a daring device of the poet this splendid description 
of God is made more striking as it is contrasted, 
without a word of transition, with the wickedness of 
man described in verses 1-4: 

"The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit, 
He hath left off to be wise and to do good." 

The white righteousness of God against the dark 
background of the wickedness of man, only an artist 
of the highest skill would dare the contrast. Well 
may such a Psalm close in an earnest prayer, verses 

lO-II. 

Psalm ']2 is attributed in the title to Solomon, it 



242 ORATORY AND POETRY 

may be called the Song of the Messiah. The King 
of Kings, whose reign shall extend over all the earth 
and last forever, who shall pay special attention to 
the poor and shall bless all men, who shall rule in 
righteousness, is evidently a greater king than Solomon 
in a more extensive and enduring kingdom, the real 
Kingdom of God. 

Psalm 90 is attributed in the title to Moses, it may 
be called the Song of the Passing Generations; the 
greatness of the singer may account for the greatness 
of the song which has been called *'the noblest of all 
human compositions." "The man grown grey with 
vast experience'' making the eternal God his abiding 
place, sings of the passing generations of mankind. 
We may imagine a sunrise on the mountain as the 
scene of the Psalm, more enduring than the mountain 
is God, more quickly passing than the day is man. 
The freshness of the morning as each generation arises 
to face the lights and shadows of life, inspires the 
prayer closing the Psalm. 

"Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us 
And establish thou the work of our hands upon us, 
Yea, the work of our hands, establish thou it." 

Psalms 103 and 104 are companion Songs, the first 
is the song of God's Throne in the Soul : 

"As the heaven is. high above the earth 
So great is his mercy toward them that fear him, 
As far as the east is from the west 
So far hath he removed our transgressions from us, 
Like as a father pitieth his children 
So the Lord pitieth them that fear him." 



THE PSALMS 243 

The second is the Song of God's Throne in the Uni- 
verse : 

"O Lord my God, thou art very great, 
Thou art clothed with honor and majesty, 
Thou coverest thyself with light as with a garment, 
Thou stretchest out the heavens like a curtain." 

Humboldt says this Psalm reflects the growing form 
of the whole cosmos, and anticipates all the sciences. 
The sciences are here singing the praises of the great 
Creator and Ruler of the Universe. In these two 
companion Psalms the poetry of the Bible reaches the 
climax of man praising God supreme over the soul 
within and the universe without. 

Psalm 119 may be called the Song of the Law. In 
it the simple double parallelism is wrought out in its 
most elaborate form and still retains much of the 
music of song; it is an acrostic, there are twenty-two 
groups one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, 
each group has eight parallels, each one beginning with 
the letter to which the group belongs, and each parallel 
in the whole Psalm, with a single exception, gives 
some title or description of the law of God. 

Psalm 139 may be called the Song of God's Omni- 
presence. The lofty genius of the poet represents the 
soul at first vainly trying to fly from his presence: 

"Whither shall I flee from thy presence? 

*Tf I ascend up into heaven, thou art there, 

"If I make my bed in sheol, behold thou art there." 

At length the soul learns to rejoice in this presence, 

"How precious are thy thoughts unto me O God! 
"How great is the sum of them I 
"When I awake I am still with thee." 



244 ORATORY AND POETRY 

In the last book of Psalms there are three groups. 
The Hallel Psalms, 113-118, were sung at the great 
feasts; it is probable that our Lord and his disciples 
sang 115-118 when they left the upper room after 
the institution of the Lord's Supper, Mark 14:26. 

The Songs of Ascents, 120-135, were used by the 
pilgrims from all parts of the land as they went up to 
the great feasts at Jerusalem. 

The Hallelujah Psalms, 146-150, in which the ex- 
ultant spirit of worship culminates in a great outburst 
of praise to the Lord God close the book. 

While many of these 150 Psalms may have been 
more generally used in the home than in the temple, 
and while many may have been recited rather than 
sung in the temple, there is abundant reason to believe 
that the temple service was very elaborate in its music. 
I Chronicles 25 gives a description of a great choir of 
4,000 voices and a great orchestra of 300 instruments. 
In the daily service of the temple only a division of 
the whole was engaged, but the whole choir and or- 
chestra were kept in training, though located in many 
different cities throughout the land, as each division 
was prepared to take its turn in the daily worship; 
and the whole choir and orchestra were drawn to- 
gether on the great feast days. 

There are indications in some of the Psalms that 
the musical rendering was very elaborate ; some strange 
words of the Hebrew language are retained in our 
versions because their meaning is not fully known, 
but they seem to indicate musical directions. In our 
authorized version Neginoth is retained in the title of 
the 76th Psalm, the revised version ventures to trans- 



THE PSALMS 245 

late it "on stringed instruments"; Nehiloth, Psalm 5, 
probably indicates "the accompaniment of flutes" ; Al 
tashheth, in Psalms 57, 58 and 75 probably means 
these Psalms were to be sung to the popular tune 
"Destroy not," a song of the vineyard referred to in 
Isaiah 65:8. So Shoshannin Eduth, in the 8oth, 
indicates the name of the tune for that Psalm "The 
Lilies of Testimony"; Gittith, Psalm 81, probably 
indicates it was set to a melody used in treading the 
winepress. The Hebrew word Selah, so frequently 
used, probably means louder or rest. 

Thus these strange Hebrew words with their dim 
memories become a kind of telephone to convey to our 
listening ears the strains of distant music, the praises 
of God in the temple-courts of far off Jerusalem. 

Then too the structures of many of the psalms seem 
adapted to varied kinds of singing. Many Psalms are 
so nicely adapted to antiphonal singing that they seem 
even to our musically trained ears in this age of operas 
and oratorios to sing themselves. There are many 
passages evidently to be rendered by a single voice, 
solo singing; Psalm 34, the Song of Confidence in 
God, is such, solo voices mingled with chorus singing : 
3rd verse, one voice, 4th another, 5th several voices 
together, 6th another solo, 8th a chorus, and so 
throughout the Psalm. 

A glance at the 11 8th Psalm shows how elaborately 
it could be rendered by the great choir, it is a Song 
of thanksgiving : 

Verses 1-4 antiphonal singing 

5-7 solo 8-9 chorus 10-12 antiphonal 



246 ORATORY AND POETRY 

13-14 solo 15-16 chorus 17-19 solo 

20 chorus of priests 

21 solo 22-25 whole choir 
26-27 chorus of priests 

28 solo 29 whole choir. 

Psalm 107, the Song of the Redeemed, has already 
been considered in Chapter XII. It is probable, as 
hinted, that the singing was not confined to the great 
choir but that the spirit of praise was so awakened in 
all the people that it culminated in congregational 
singing of the greatest conceivable kind; probably 
20,000 people were gathered in the temple-courts on 
the great feast days and multitudes more in the nearby 
streets and upon the nearby hillsides. To such a vast 
audience as could crowd the temple-courts we have 
seen some of the great orators speak, we have listened 
to Isaiah as his clear ringing voice carried his message 
to the borders of the crowd, at the close of some great 
feastday service. We may again imagine ourselves 
there; the feastday songs have been rendered, prob- 
ably the 107th Psalm has been sung by the great 
choir; we have listened to Isaiah in his great Golden 
Age Oration, Isaiah, chapters 2, 3, 4. Now comes 
the culminating act of worship: the High Priest's 
Benediction and the singing of the 67th Psalm; this 
Psalm gathers in itself the nation's praise for the 
covenant blessings and the nation's hope for the future 
under the reign of the Messiah; it was sung probably 
by the choir and the people as a response to the High 
Priest's Benediction (Numbers 6:22-27), which was 
given by the priest in charge at the close of the morn- 



THE PSALMS 247 

ing and evening sacrifice each day but especially by 
the High Priest when he came out from the Holy of 
Holies on the great day of the whole year, the day 
of Atonement (Leviticus 16). Then the choir of four 
thousand voices and three hundred instruments and 
the thousands of people in the temple-courts and in 
the streets and on the hillsides near the temple united 
in their response. 

There are three blessings pronounced by the priest, 
so there are three strains of praise in the response each 
followed by a refrain. The first strain receives the 
blessing not for the nation alone but rather that God's 
salvation may be extended to all nations, the nation 
in covenant with God in this its highest act of worship, 
realizes God's gracious and lofty purpose to bless all 
nations. The worshiping nation crowding the city of 
God on the mountaintop of the Holy Land becomes 
the High Priest of all the nations of the earth and ex- 
tends His benediction to all lands. 

The second strain describes the joy of all the na- 
tions under the reign of the righteous Messiah. The 
third strain describes the fruit fulness of the whole 
earth when all nations shall receive the covenant of 
God bringing salvation. Each strain sung by the great 
choir is followed by the refrain sung by all the people : 

"Let the people praise thee O God 
Let all the people praise thee." 

Well may we in this far off age and land answer 
Amen and Amen, for we are under the reign of the 
Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Acts, 2d Chapter 175 

Acts, Chapter 17 : 16-34 186 

Amos, Speech of 47 

Athens, Life in 181 

Babylon, Life in 95, 109, 130 

Captives' return journey from Babylon 131 

Daniel 98 

Deuteronomy, Speeches in 22, 30 

Exodus, Chapters 7-15 212 

Ezekiel, Speeches of 24, 112, 125 

Genesis, ist Chapter 22j 

Genesis, Chapter 4 : 23, 24 197 

Habakkuk, Speech of 90 

Haggai, Speech of 136 

Hosea, Speech of 58 

Isaiah, Speeches of 24, 74 

Isaiah, Chapters 40-66 220 

Jeremiah, Speeches of 24, loi 

Jerusalem, Life in 62, 75, loi, 168 

Jesus of Nazareth, Speeches of 153 

Job, Book of 221 

Joel, Speeches of 65 

John, Chapter 12 : 20-36 165 

Judges, Chapters 4, 5 214 

Lamentations of Jeremiah 218 

Land Laws and Customs 68 

248 



INDEX 249 

PAGE 

Matthew, Chapters 5, 6, 7 153 

Matthew, Chapter 23 164 

Micah, Speeches of 70 

Moses, Speeches of 22, 30 

Moses, Song of 38, 205 

Moses, Farewell of 39 

Music in Temple Worship 64 

Nahum, Speech of 24 

Nebuchadnezzar 96 

Orators of the New Testament 24 

Paul, the Apostle, Speech of 182 

Peter, the Apostle, Speech of 177 

Prophets, Mission of 23 

Proverbs, The 240 

Psalm 107 in the Temple Worship 64 

Psalm 29 in the Temple Worship 105 

Psalms, General 201-8 

Psalms, General 240 

Resurrection of Christ 168 

Samaria, Life in the City 43 

Social Conditions 69, 71, 80, 147 

Song of Songs, The 215 

Street Preaching in Jerusalem 75, yj 

Temple, The 63, 67 

Temple Choir and Orchestra 244 

Zechariah 140 

Zephaniah, Speeches of 86 









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